EPL: Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea

[Mighty T.A.L.]

The two title hopefuls will be hoping to gain an early advantage in the battle for the championship.

Chelsea go into the game having won their opening two matches of the campaign, while Liverpool are playing only their second Premier League fixture after being involved in European action in midweek.

The Blues will be aiming for revenge with their last league loss on their travels coming at Anfield in January.

The two sides know each other inside out having faced each other a remarkable 15 times in the last three seasons in various competitions.

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard is expected to play despite suffering a hairline fracture of his toe against Toulouse.

Xabi Alonso is also expected to return to the fold after being rested in midweek.

Changes
Reds boss Rafa Benitez is again expected to shuffle his pack after making six changes from the side that started against Aston Villa against Toulouse.

Daniel Agger is set to return in defence in place of Sami Hyypia and John Arne Riise will return to the starting XI after appearing as a late substitute in France.

Dirk Kuyt and Fernando Torres are expected to resume their partnership in attack with Peter Crouch and Andrei Voronin making way.

Jermaine Pennant will return to the squad after missing out altogether in midweek, but Harry Kewell is still sidelined with a groin problem.

Boost
Chelsea are set to be boosted by the return of John Terry after he missed the opening two games of the season through injury.

Terry is back in training after recovering from a knee injury and his return could not be more timely after Ricardo Carvalho picked up a knock in midweek against Reading and he is set to miss the trip to Anfield.

Michael Essien remains a doubt after missing the Reading clash with a knee knock, but Claude Makelele is back in the squad.

Arjen Robben, Michael Ballack, Andrei Shevchenko and Wayne Bridge are all still missing for Jose Mourinho's men.

New signing Alex is unlikely to be involved as he is lacking match fitness.

Skysports

[NJ10]

I think we can win this one. It will certainly be an interesting game, who knows exactly how fit Terry is, and with Carvalho out we might be able to play on that, cos i dont think Ben Haim is in the same league.

Drogba is the man who terrifies our defence, Carragher looks pedestrian against him but if we can go any way towards nullifying him then we will have a great chance.

[Sven]

This time I don't expect us to go 2-0 down in 10 mins, with the lack of any cd last season and no Maka in that game we didn't adjust from start,

I expect it to be and end to end game, with Liverpool most likly to lead going in to second half, but then us destroying Liverpool in 2nd to win game,

I think it could be a high scoring game 3-2 maybe, if we win this and united loose, tbh gonna stick my neck out hear say, done and dusted, 3rd epl coming back to sb.

[NJ10]

Thats perhaps the most bold statement ive ever heard....

Liverpool v Chelsea?!! End to End?!! 3-2?!!

oh, and the bit about the league being over if you win and United lose too

[Sven]

As I said my neck is out for all to see, three games in, long way to go, I remember our 2nd EPL victory winning 8 games on trot, been untouchable to end of season, that how I kind of see it happing, ha ye way to soon to start predicitng....

No seriously, with out new "too entertaining" tatics I can see more goals in this game, I'm hoping for a 4-1 win like two season ago, but I don't think happen, I just think if you score one we score one more approach will happen,

I don't think there is a worry of Chelsea being so One Dimensional like we where in CL semis, you not looking forward to this game? Like I said, think it's gonna be a cracker. draw will do both sides most proberly.

[NJ10]

Im looking forward to the game because if we win we'll have started superbly and beaten a real title contender, but I'm certainly not expecting us to take the game to you. we were able to do that in January cos your team was depleted, but this time I expect us to sit back, see how you's are set up and then try and nick a goal. We have too much to lose by going gung ho early on, as sad as it makes me to say that.

[Sven]

Oh I see,

From watching both 90 mins of Chelsea games, see them playing completly different from last season, maybe it was because no Terry, but from what I saw was, when we had a one goal lead we still attacked to get another, something we never did last year sadly(many reason for this blah blah) maybe it was because out defense was leaky, scared we conced, but I like to think goals goals and goals is what we really need to win the league this season,

Liverpool on there day one of the hardest teams to break down, I got a feeling Rafa will take the game to us, as we looking shaky at back. Which is good, end to end games don't know who will win is brillaint.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Rafa Benitez fury at ‘invisible’ foul

RAFA BENITEZ was incensed by Rob Styles' decision to award Chelsea a penalty that denied the Reds all three points yesterday.

Styles, the only man inside Anfield to believe Steve Finnan fouled Florent Malouda, threw Chelsea a lifeline with the spot-kick ruling just after the hour mark.

Benitez, whose £18million new signing Fernando Torres scored his first goal for the club in the opening half, said: “What penalty? It was the invisible penalty. There were 45,000 people who could see it and know it wasn’t, Jose says he could not see it.

“I want to have a lot of respect for referees, but sometimes I cannot understand why they give some decisions, that decision is impossible to explain.

"Maybe the referee was under a bit of pressure. I think he will watch the video of the match and admit that his penalty decision was a mistake.”

And he added: “We had chances to win and we have two less points, we must now be positive.

“It is too early to say who are contenders, but we always show when we play Chelsea that we can be there, so now we have to be consistent against the rest of the teams for nine months.”

Mourinho’s view on the crucial penalty call was: “I have not really seen the penalty properly, only from 30 metres away on the sidelines.

“In the box there is no advantage law, if the referee sees a foul he gives a penalty. So when Malouda is kicked from behind as he lets to ball run to Drogba, then it is a penalty.

“It is to be discussed by commentators, just like they discussed the goal we lost the Champions League semi-final by here two years ago.”

The penalty incident set the tone for the rest of the match, in which Styles practically lost control.

In the latter stages he appeared to book Michael Essien for a second time without sending off the Ghanaian only for the fourth official to reveal the booking had been issued to John Terry.

The simmering feud between the two sides erupted on the pitch with nine bookings, and off it with more controversy between Benitez and Mourinho.

Confronted with questioning over his team’s alleged gamesmanship and constant harassment of referee Styles’ decisions, Chelsea boss Mourinho claimed: “We are a naive and pure team.

“I have a naive team, they are naive because we do not have divers, we do not have violent people we do not have nasty tackles.

“We do not have people diving into swimming pools, Chelsea is a naive team. It is a pure team, that is my opinion.”

On hearing the Portuguese coach’s version of affairs, Liverpool chief Benitez could not stop himself hitting back.

He said: “I will not name people, but you can check their team and see how many times they do things that he (Mourinho) says they do not do. I don’t want to give names but I remember a lot of situations in the last three years, and today you could see the players talking all the time at the referee.”

He added: "But it was important for Torres to score at Anfield - it will prove beneficial for him in the future."

Liverpool Echo

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Latest: Rob Styles has been dropped following his horrendous performance in the Anfield game on Sunday.

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Liverpool 1, Chelsea 1 (Echo)

After years complaining about the ‘ghost goal’ which once cost them at Anfield, Chelsea’s cries of foul following yesterday’s phantom penalty were conspicuous by their absence.

A riveting contest was overshadowed by feeble refereeing. Rafa Benitez’s fury at seeing a rival gifted a point, not through their quality but by intimidating a putrid official, was all-too-apparent.

But while Liverpool lament a missed opportunity to inflict early punishment on their rivals, there’s far more to be gained from assessing the longer term view on one of the club’s most encouraging Premiership afternoons for years.

Anfield was awash with positive images. Fernando Torres’ skipping past a helpless Ben Haim was gracefulness personified. Steven Gerrard’s bossing of midfield offered further evidence he can be the most dominant personality in this year’s title race.

And Liverpool’s defence once more looked impregnable, its might punctured only by Rob Styles’ incompetence.

Perhaps the most significant symbol of all came just after the final whistle.

Benitez’s players departed looking forlorn because their victory was stolen, but the Chelsea team strutted triumphantly and with compulsory West London arrogance to the away end.

This was, it was necessary to remind ourselves, a draw.

Chelsea have spent most of the Abramovich era in the Premier League arriving on Merseyside to wave the contents of their wallets and expose the gulf in quality their resources granted them. If stalemates are now considered victories, they’ve begun a process of retreat without realising it.

There they were, fists clenched as they collectively hugged their get-out-of-jail card. All that was missing was the sight of Styles being held aloft as their saviour.

Liverpool’s sense of disappointment prevented the occasion representing the seismic shift in power Benitez was hoping for, but he must view Chelsea’s celebrations as reassuring.

Others are starting to worry about Liverpool’s power again. Chelsea inflicted a wound so slight at this stage of the season, it may prove irrelevant.

The key to a genuine championship challenge lies in Liverpool pressurising Chelsea for longer than the 90 minutes we saw yesterday.

Benitez’s side must stay with them at Sunderland next weekend, and at other less attractive venues for the next nine months.

If they play with this pace and passion, and get a helping hand from more capable officials, the inferiority complex when Liverpool’s league form is judged against the Londoners’ will be justified no longer.

Comparisons of the spine of each side were again shown to be favourable to Liverpool.

Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger kept Didier Drogba anonymous, Gerrard’s will to lead his side to a respectable title charge aches with each crunching tackle, and in attack there’s finally a striker who would also challenge for a place in the Chelsea, Manchester United or Arsenal team.

The manner in which Torres received Gerrard’s pass, glided past his marker and slotted past Petr Cech hasn’t been seen from a Liverpool striker since Michael Owen was a teenager.

The confidence the £18m gleans from the strike should be immeasurable. After embarrassing one of the most miserly defences in Europe, the rest of the season ought to be perceived as a goal feast waiting to happen.

After inheriting the number nine shirt, he was handed the ultimate accolade of the ‘Fowler’ chant.

The flaw in Liverpool’s performance, oddly, arrived following the first goal. They played their best football at 0-0 and 1-1. It was then they looked most likely to create chances and dominate, as Chelsea’s ambitions were clearly focused on avoiding defeat rather than pursuing a win.

When ahead, it was Liverpool who chose to keep what they had rather than maintain the forward rampage which typified the opening and closing stages.

Cech wasn’t exactly overworked, but that was because the opportunities which were squandered were off target.

Dirk Kuyt, John Arne Riise, Ryan Babel and Gerrard all had their moments in front of goal, although nothing could be described as clear-cut.

Pepe Reina, in contrast, was tested with just one shot on target, and that was the equalising penalty.

Finnan’s collision with Florent Malouda didn’t even provoke an appeal from the nearby Didier Drogba, but Styles saw his name in the morning headlines and he isn’t the type to miss such opportunities.

What’s infuriating for the manager is he knows his team did enough to win. To squander home points due to the opponents’ quality is acceptable. To pay a high price because of inexplicable blunders is a certain cause for insomnia in the Benitez and Liverpool players’ household for the next few days.

Those sleepless nights ought to be spent pondering what can be rather than what should have been.

As well as they have played so far, Liverpool know they have still much more to prove if their fledgling title challenge is to be taken seriously. A close look at Chelsea this early should be of assistance.

For all Chelsea’s vices, and they have many which were on display here, they have a resilience which even the most prejudiced Liverpool sympathiser must find admirable.

Considerably assisted by refereeing ineptitude though they were, despite being a goal down and outplayed for long periods, they found a way not to be beaten. In similar circumstances against tough opponents last season, this was not a recurring feature of Liverpool’s game. It must become one.

To beat Chelsea over the course of the campaign, Benitez knows as much as he loathes Jose Mourinho, his Liverpool side must absorb some of his team’s qualities.

It’s not just the games which you dominate and fail to win which are decisive, but those where you’re able to take what you don’t deserve.

Chelsea are evidently still masters of this art.

Liverpool can put this in the list of wins which got away, but they didn’t look out of place in a fixture described as a battle of the championship heavyweights.

Regardless of the final score, that’s yet another sign of massive progress.

icLiverpool - Liverpool 1, Chelsea 1 (Echo)

[oxfordblues]

malouda played a dummy for drogba to receive the ball,stiles got it totally wrong,we all know that,(shit happens)now stiles is banned the next ref in a chelsea match will think twice on giving chelsea anything,so this now makes it harder on chelsea.as no ref wants to be placed in the spotlight

[Werdna]

Originally Posted by oxfordblues

malouda played a dummy for drogba to receive the ball,stiles got it totally wrong,we all know that,(shit happens)now stiles is banned the next ref in a chelsea match will think twice on giving chelsea anything,so this now makes it harder on chelsea.as no ref wants to be placed in the spotlight

And if that ref does so, and video shows he obviously made an error then he will (hopefully) also be dropped for the follwing week.

And in time the average performances should improve.

I'm glad that the referee panel has publicly apologized and taken action. By that alone is it easier to accept that it was a normal human error on Stiles part. The annoying and frustrating part is when a referee makes a blatant mistake and is then protected by the his superiors!

Even though we all like to have a go at refs the mistake by Stiles isn't realy worse then Gerrard not hitting the target with a shot, Riise not laying the ball back instead of whipping it across goal or a defender not stopping SWP before he could pass the ball towards Malouda for the "penalty".

If referees came out more often and admitted they made a mistake people would be a lot less harsh on them!

[andy villa]

What A Difference A Week Makes
"These things happen and some decisions you get, some you don't. I'm sure over the season decisions will even themselves out" - Steven Gerrard, August 11, after haranguing the referee into awarding him a match-winning free-kick at Aston Villa.

"I felt the referee didn't play well today. There was a lot of pressure from the Chelsea players and I thought he eventually cracked" - Steven Gerrard, August 19, after Chelski are awarded a match-saving penalty at Anfield.

Football 365

*insert appropriate smilie*