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Chelsea are on the
verge of wresting back the title from Alex Ferguson and Manchester
United, but the Blues must ensure that they get a victory over
Liverpool today at Anfield.

Liverpool’s season
should not be defined at this point in time because it will seem very
demeaning for a 19-time English league winner, 5-time Champions League
winner, and numerous FA Cups – in short, the most decorated club side
are in danger of missing out on playing in the Champions League for the
first time in six years and that has all been under the watch of Rafael
Benitez.

The Spaniard is
rumoured to be on the way to Juventus; how the Bianconneri can even
think of Benitez’s name as a likely coach for them is bizarre to say
the least, but we have to put that aside.

Chelsea would have
eased a sigh of relief and contentment when the Reds were taken into
extra time in their Europa League match against Atletico Madrid on
Thursday night and their eventual loss on aggregate. If that has not
drained the last powers of this great team, then nothing else will.

Chelsea will also
be banking on the fact that Liverpool will do all in their power to
disallow Manchester United, their arch enemies from winning a 19th
title thereby usurping their record as joint top winners with the Red
Devils on 18 victories, and the small fact that Ferguson wants to win a
fourth consecutive title, a new record that is unlikely to ever be
broken in a hurry.

Liverpool will be
without a player feared by John Terry and the other defenders, Fernando
Torres. Steven Gerrard is also not in his best form, but these are not
guarantees. If Carlo Ancelotti is to win his first English league
title, then he, and his team must take nothing for granted.

In the first leg, a
cagey match was settled by second half goals from Nicolas Anelka and
Florent Malouda. Anelka, a former Liverpool player scored first in the
60th minute when he finished off a sublime low cross from Didier Drogba
as Chelsea defied their critics with a performance of grit and quality.
Substitute Malouda sealed the win in injury-time when he slid home
another low cross from Drogba.

While Chelsea have
scored for fun and amassed an amazing 93 goals, Liverpool have managed
61, which incidentally is Chelsea’s goal difference.

Matches between
these two teams have been tactical ones with the superior on the night
cancelling out the other. In the days of Jose Mourinho as coach of
Chelsea, the likely score line would have been 1-1. In these climes,
with a victory the only result that will lead to a league win, today’s
match may see both teams opening up attacking wise and that will make
it a great spectacle to watch.

Liverpool still
have a mathematical chance of sneaking that lucrative fourth UEFA
Champions League spot but that is only if Aston Villa, Tottenham and
Manchester City all contrive to lose their matches.

Unfortunately
these three will face off in the last two weeks so a bad result for one
will mean a positive one for the other but Liverpool still have a
mathematical chance so then they will not turn the other cheek when
they are slapped on the other.

Battles to watch: Didier Drogba vs. Jaime Carragher

The Ivorien is
stuck on 25 goals, one behind Wayne Rooney, who is out injured. What
better place to score the goals that will most likely win Chelsea the
Premiership and the individual accolade as the league’s highest goal
scorer than at Anfield?

Meanwhile
liverpulldian, Carragher is a hard as nails defender who doesn’t give a
quarter. It does not matter to him, whether they are out of the league
race or in it, he will face the obstacle the same way, preventing the
opposing striker from scoring. It is always a physical duel between
both.

Florent Malouda vs. Glen Johnson

The England hopeful
versus the Frenchman, who won March’s player of the month could decide
the outcome of this match. One of the reasons Chelsea are where they
are is because of the form shown by Malouda. His contribution has been
goals, assists and defence.

Glen Johnson was
shown off on slack defending against Atletico Madrid when his tame
header, intended for Reina turned into the away goal that knocked his
team out of the Europa Cup. He will need to focus more on defending
against the duo of Ashley Cole and Malouda. Reckon that this is where
the match will be won and lost.

Steven Gerrard vs. Frank Lampard

England buddies,
but that is where the similarity ends. Lampard has scored 20 goals
again this season to make it five seasons consecutively that he has
netted 20 goals and above. Gerrard, long the saviour of Liverpool seems
to be waning in pulling the chestnut out of the fire these days. He has
also not been able to feature alongside Fernando Torres for long
periods during the season and that may have contributed tellingly to
the dismal outing of Liverpool in the league.

Today, Gerrard has another chance of showing that he still is one of
the finest midfield players in the world. Expect to see tackles fly
between these ones.