Sports Blog 20/01/2015: Match Preview – Liverpool vs Chelsea, Tuesday 20th January 2015

The first of the Capital One Cup’s semi-finals takes place tonight, as league leaders Chelsea visit Anfield to face a newly resurgent Liverpool.

Despite still being in the FA Cup and the Europa League, this cup feels like one of the Reds’ few chances at silverware this season; the narrative around Chelsea is slightly different, with many seeing this as step one on the path to the potential achievement of the mythic ‘quadruple’. Mourinho’s men are now 5 points clear at the top of the table after Manchester City were surprised by Arsenal at the Etihad, confidently putting 5 past Swansea at the weekend. This means that Chelsea have now scored more than 2 goals in 9 of their last 10 games. However, a 5-3 loss against Tottenham a couple of weeks ago shows that the Blues aren’t impervious to a shock, and Brendan Rodgers will be hoping he can cause a similar surprise tonight.



Liverpool are still nowhere near the heights of last season’s league performance; however they have reversed the poor form that was plaguing them before Christmas, and now haven’t lost in 6 games. There is a caveat that comes with such a stat; these 5 wins and a draw have all come against teams below Liverpool in the league, often teams like Leicester, Burnley and Sunderland, all in or around the relegation battle. There is also the presence of an ever-growing rivalry between former colleagues Brendan Rodgers and Jose Mourinho; Rodgers has been unable to beat Chelsea in the 5 games under his tenure, including all the matches since Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge.

There is also an added spice to the fixture as Mourinho’s very first trophy with Chelsea was the League Cup in 2005, where the Blues triumphed over Liverpool 3-2. It would be a piece of irresistible symmetry that Mourinho would have to overcome the Reds in order to get to the final and potentially win his first trophy since returning to the club.



Liverpool should see the return of Gerrard (15/2 to score first) after he was rested for the victory over Villa at the weekend, as well as Adam Lallana potentially returning after injury. And despite being Spreadex’s favourite Liverpool player to score first at 13/2, Mario Balotelli is ‘feeling ill’ leaving his appearance in doubt as rumours circulate that Parma might be interested in signing the troublesome Italian. Rickie Lambert might also get a run out, and is at 7/1 fixed odds betting to score first, whilst Raheem Sterling on 6 goals is also at 7/1.

Chelsea might see Courtois back in goal after a minor finger injury, with Mourinho looking at an almost fully-fit squad to choose from. On 17 goals this season, Chelsea’s top scorer Diego Costa is overall favourite to score first at 17/4, whilst Eden Hazard on 11 goals is at 7/1, and Chelsea legend Didier Drogba, with 6 goals this season, is at 9/2. Interestingly, despite a rumoured move to Wolfsburg being in the works, Andre Schurrle, on 5 goals, is at 15/2 to score first.

Tonight looks set to be an exciting game with both teams coming in off the back of a (relatively) happy New Year. Despite Chelsea’s impressive goal-scoring record at the moment, Spreadex are offering a Total Goals quote of 2.45-2.65. And with Chelsea dominant in the league and still on track for a trophy haul at the end of the season, Spreadex clients are expecting a narrow Blues victory on a Chelsea/Liverpool (h) Goal Supremacy spread betting quote 0.25-0.45.