• What if the League Cup had Premier League's marketing power
• Henry Winter: Mourinho's Gerrard tribute is sincere
• In pics: Liverpool v Chelsea: 10 defining moments
• Rodgers says time has come for his first trophy
Can Liverpool upset the Blue Machine? Is Mourinho right to urge Cheslea fans not to taunt Gerrard? Email alan.tyers@telegraph.co.uk with your views
LIVERPOOL 0 CHELSEA 1 (first leg)
LATEST
46 mins: Simple ball up the middle for Chelsea, Liverpool part like the Red Sea and Costa is coming onto it! Mignolet races out JUST in time
HALF TIME: LIVERPOOL 0 CHELSEA 1 (first leg) Well, the boys in the studio think it wasn't a penalty for the Costa handball, so that's good enough for me. It just looked so odd, a player who looks like an evil pirate sitting on the floor in his own penalty area making as if he was in a little rowing boat.
45 mins: A scramble in the Chelsea area, Diego Costa - I'm really not too sure what he thinks he's doing. He's sort of sat on the floor in the area and is now flapping at the ball like a man trying to swoosh the hot water around his bath. For some reason, the ref does not give a handball. Lucas slips it through now to Sterling, but Courtois is out to clear and that's the end of a breathless, enjoyable, controversial half
44 mins: Top class bit of cheating from Markovic! This is out of the top drawer. He's running down the wing with Luis, they're both going for the ball. Luis has an arm up for balance, it brushes Markovic on the chest. Markovic goes down clutching his face! Splendid work. The ref buys it, and books the Chelsea full-back.
43 mins: Lucas barges into Hazard, probably a bit of a harsh yellow. Lucas yelling "F*** off" in the ref's face from a few yards away is either the sort of thing that you care about or it isn't.
41 mins: Here comes the Duracell Bunny down the right, looking for the ball in. The game's a little scrappy now, some fouls and misplaced passes.... eventually it finds its way to Coutinho at the back of the area and his deflected shot goes behind for a corner. No results from it.
37 mins: Gerrard booked for clipping the heel of Hazard.
35 mins: Costa and Can clash, but no malice from either player as they go for the ball. Can gets a bit of a whack. Coutinho and Alberto Moreno busy and bright, but the final ball to Sterling no use on several occasions.
34 mins: Liverpool playing pretty well but Chelsea are unrattled. Strong suspicion of a battering, followed by Chelsea break on 80 minutes, 2-0, sayonara.
30 mins: Liverpool corner finds Sterling doing some tricky-wicky-wah-wah in the box, twisting and turning this way and that, but it never really looks like he's going anyplace. Chelsea break, three-on-three, but Hazard delays too long and the moment passes.
28 mins: Here's Can though, with a chance to make ammends! Excellent run! Slips it through to Sterling but there's too much on the pass and that is probably offside anyhoo.
27 mins: Sterling and Coutinho bright, but they are bashing their ickle heads against a big blue wall.
26 mins: From a corner, a free header for No Vowels Skrtl. He's got all the time in the world here - and it's rare you see Chelsea make such a poor job of marking up a set piece. But his header is woeful.
24 mins: Markovic presses forward and tries an ambitious scissor kick. Makes a pig's ear of it.
23 mins: Costa looking dangeorus, Can with a fair tackle on the edge of the area. Anfield still roaring on its heroes.
22 mins: Here's Mark Lawrenson on the BBC
"I think Eden Hazard bought that cleverly. There is contact and my first thought is it's clumsy. The referee was in a great position."
21 mins: Gerrard with a long ball forward to Sterling, Liverpool right back into their work
19 mins: Hard lines for Liverpool. I'd say they can have no complaints about the penalty, but, you know. Hazard certainly didn't bust a gut to stay upright. Anyway.
GOAL! Hazard steps up, in front of the Kop, and he's slotted that penalty away. He gave Mignolet the eyes, and went the other way. CHELSEA 1 LIVERPOOL 0 (Hazard 17)
16 mins: Against the run of play, here's Fabregas with a good run down the left, he cuts it back into the area. Can has given away a penalty! He's barged into Hazard, the ref is right on the spot, and there's not much more to say.
15 mins: Good work from Henderson. Liverpool are giving Chelsea a real roasting. Steven Gerrard hits a top class shot from distance, dips viciously and that's sharp work to turn it over from Courtois. The corner is no problem.
13 mins: Chelsea deal with that well enough... but here's Henderson again, threads it to Coutinho who spins and slips it for Sterling! Oooh, vital touch from Cahill pokes it out of the way.
12 mins: Henderson gets in behind the Chelsea backline, crosses hard and low but it's half-cleared. Excellent from the Reds. A half-chance now for Liverpool but it's behind for a corner.
10 mins: Two-footed from Mikel on Raheem, luckily Sterling leaps out of harm's way. No booking. Many a ref would've.
8 mins: Gerrard's bang up for this, he's playing in an advanced position down the right and he's snapping at the heels of the Chelsea backs, daring them to dilly-dally on the ball. Chelsea assured enough so far.
6 mins: Nice stepover from Hazard as he lets it run to Costa, and Costa gives him the ball right back. Ah, Eden's lost it.
4 mins: Excellent atmos. Both goalies with slightly rushed moments - Mignolet hoofing a clearance to William. And now Gerrard snaps and harries at Courtois after a pass from a Chelsea defender. Courtois has to look lively to get rid.
2 mins: Liverpool playing keep-ball, every outfielder has had a touch in this move, Chelsea sitting very deep.
1 mins: Liverpool kick off. Here's Markovic down the right, but he's stopped by Fabregas.
19.43 Yellow ball!
19.42 Chilly up in the North West, and it's snowing.
19.40 Those teams again
Liverpool: Mignolet, Can, Skrtel, Sakho, Henderson, Gerrard, Lucas, Moreno, Markovic, Coutinho, Sterling. Subs: Jose Enrique, Lambert, Manquillo, Lallana, Borini, Rossiter, Ward.
Chelsea: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Luis, Matic, Mikel, Willian, Fabregas, Hazard, Costa. Subs: Cech, Zouma, Ramires, Oscar, Drogba, Remy, Azpilicueta.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire)
19.35 The players are out on the pitch. It's Reds v Blues. History v The Present. Frustration and excitement v power and efficiency.
19.30 Graphical representation of the latest Project. Steven Gerrard, of course, returning at the expense of Borini. Is he fully fit?
19.25 Rather an interesting move from Sky in this preview film. They're intercutting footage of Mignolet with Carragher and Neville slagging off his performances! Miggers himself now interviewed (pre-record) and he is not prepared to agree with Carra "that you sometimes need some time out of the team."
Would they have done that cross-cutting feature with an out-of-form English player? I doubt it. Think that's the one weakness of the excellent Sky Sports punditry set-up: English players get an easier ride than Foreigners. I can't see Gary Neville calling an English players actions "despicable", as he did about Mirallas last night. But perhaps I am wrong.
19.20 Gus Poyet says "You cannot play too many attacking players away, you need someone to hold."
19.15 Mourinho says he's brought Mikel in to screen, and that Liverpool are a good team, and that he wouldn't be happy with a draw at this stage.
19.10 Returning to Obi Mikel - I'm not having a pop. Just mean that he's so effective while being so unmemorable. He's played 217 times for Chelsea and I cannot really remember him doing anything.
19.00 Who do you fancy in this first leg, then? I would say a Liverpool win is by far the most desirable result in terms of the tie. Obvs. Because it's pretty hard to see Liverpool getting anything at S Bridge.
18.50 I enjoyed this story from Jose Mourinho on Steven Gerrard, urging Chelsea fans not to rip the michael out of Steven Gerrard. Good luck with that, Jose.
Here's Henry on the mutual admiration society between the midfield general and the great manager.
Henry Winter: Mourinho's Gerrard tribute is sincere
18.45 Chelsea going big in goal, Cech giving way to the mighty Courtois. Not a bad pair of goalies from which to pick. The only other change from the side that beat Swansea is the introduction of Mikel, who for me is absolutely an exemplar of why football is not as good as it used to be, in favour of Butch Oscar, who is a great player to watch. Boo to pragmatism.
18.40 Big players all over the pitch in this big game - no question of a weakened XI at this stage of the competition.
18.30 Evening all! Early teams from both Liverpool and Chelsea
Liverpool: Mignolet, Can, Skrtel, Sakho, Lucas, Henderson, Gerrard, Moreno, Markovic, Coutinho, Sterling
Chelsea: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Filipe Luis; Matic, Mikel; Willian, Fabregas, Hazard; Diego Costa
------
Alan Tyers will be in the hotseat tonight – from 6.30pm – to bring you all the action from Anfield. In the meantime, here's what Brendan Rodgers and John Terry have been saying about this evening's match ...
Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager, insists he is not driven by a personal desire to beat opposing managers - mainly because those battles are never fought on a level playing field.
Rodgers comes up against Jose Mourinho - the man who gave him a youth team job in his first spell at Stamford Bridge - in the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg looking to end a run of three successive defeats against his old colleague.
It is generally accepted the Portuguese, a far more experienced and successful coach, had the upper hand when it came to tactics on each occasion but Rodgers believes that was only half the story.
He said it did not concern him whether he was taking on Mourinho, or Arsenal's Arsene Wenger, Manchester City's Manuel Pellegrini or Manchester United's Louis van Gaal.
"I am not really that way," he said.
"As a manager the big part of it is the players you have, that is the reality.
"Of course you can make an impact and make them better but if you come into a group of super-experienced players who have won consistently, you are going to have a better chance to win trophies - it's not rocket science.
"I have never really seen it as a direct match-up against the other manager because there are so many things that can dictate that.
"For me it is just about winning the game, regardless of the manager."
Despite Chelsea's recent dominance over the Merseysiders, Rodgers stressed that should not be a barrier to overcoming Mourinho's side this time around.
He remembers, while he was still at Stamford Bridge, the effect of those previous semi-final defeats (twice in the Champions League and once in the FA Cup) to Liverpool.
"It is a while back but there was a period there for a few years, and when you lose a game it is difficult but you know to be a winner you have to lose," he said.
"When you look at Chelsea's history in the last decade, arguably the most successful team over the last 10 years, they have also lost in big competitions and big games.
"When you lose, those adverse moments are often the making of you."
Chelsea captain John Terry knows what it is like to taste defeat against Liverpool and the centre-half is prepared for another tough battle over two legs.
"It (Anfield) is going to be a tough place to go," he said. "I think Daniel Sturridge might be back, (Raheem) Sterling is back as well and they proved when we went up there in the league that it's always a tough game.
"You kind of forget form and where they are, it goes out of the window, it's Chelsea v Liverpool. It's going to be tough and over the two legs I just hope we're strong enough."
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét