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This fixture last season proved to be the undoing of Liverpool, as Steven Gerrard’s untimely slip handed the match to Chelsea and the title to Manchester City. This time, the roles have been reversed. It’s Chelsea who are in pole position, with Liverpool playing catch-up and desperately needing the 3 points to have any chances of staying in the title race. With both teams coming off gruelling midweek Champions League clashes, big decisions lie ahead of both managers for a match that is sure to set the pulses racing. On that note, here are the 5 factors that could determine who comes out on top.
#1 Brendan Rodgers\' team selection
In what was termed by many as a desecration of tradition and heritage, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers chose to leave out a number of key players in the midweek Champions League match against Real Madrid. While it would be easy to put that particular team selection down to a defeatist attitude, the reality is a bit more stark.
Liverpool players have not performed to the level that fans – and the manager – have come to expect from them following last season’s exploits where the Reds ran through teams like a knife through butter. It’s one thing having faith in the same set of players, it’s another to simply put up with bad performances.
Instead of pandering to the big egos in the dressing room, Rodgers would be better off selecting the 11 players he feels can get a result against Chelsea. If it means dropping Gerrard for Lucas and Balotelli for Lambert, then so be it.
Liverpool have carried far too many passengers this season, and are in danger of nesting their own set of “undroppable” players. No player is bigger than the club, certainly not when the league leaders come visiting.
A midfield of Henderson, Lucas and Gerrard is far more likely to compete with Chelsea’s energetic engine room. And if Rodgers wants to take the game to Chelsea, then Balotelli simply cannot start. Lambert, and even Borini, offer far more than the moody Italian.
Or maybe Rodgers will cave into the pressure, play the same players that collapsed meekly against Newcastle last week and hope for the best again Mourinho’s marauders. Either way, it will be intriguing to see who starts for Liverpool on Saturday, and who doesn’t.
#2 Diego Costa\'s fitness
Much to the chagrine of Jose Mourinho, an overworked Diego Costa was called up to the Spanish National team for Euro qualifiers and international friendlies in October. To add insult to injury (literally), Costa reported back to Chelsea injured, ahead of a crucial match against Manchester United.
The Brazilian recently returned to first-team action against QPR and as a late substitute against Maribor. On both occasions, Costa was a shadow of the striker that set the Premier League alight with 9 goals in 8 games.
A half-fit Diego Costa is no good to Chelsea, and no one knows his condition going into the match at Anfield. Mourinho can always turn to Didier Drogba, as he did against Manchester United, and hope for the best. Loic Remy too is available, although even he has just returned from an injury.
But it is easy to imagine that Chelsea chose to splurge millions on Costa for matches such as the one against Liverpool. They need their hit-man to be in peak condition to have a chance of winning comfortably.
For Rodgers sake, he better hope Costa does not fire on all cylinders on Saturday.
#3 Liverpool\'s tactics and mentality
This will be Rodgers’ biggest decision – does his team sit back, defend and hope for a smash-and-grab win against a team in better form, or should Liverpool try to take the game to Chelsea in the hopes of uncovering weaknesses that have been well hidden so far – something no team has tried this season.
Rodgers’ only needs to look at the two Manchester teams to locate Chelsea’s vulnerabilities to positive, attacking football. Mourinho’s men are not infallible, and their current air of invincibility has more to do with teams fearing them rather than trying to attack them. The only times Chelsea have dropped points this season, the opposition was trying to beat them.
In that sense, Rodgers’ team selection against Real Madrid makes sense. There was no way to win that match, however defeatist it may sound. More importantly, Liverpool could afford to lose against Madrid, win their final two group games and still qualify for the knockout stages.
Against Chelsea though, and with the game at Anfield, Rodgers will be expected to not settle for a draw and go for a win, at the risk of playing into Mourinho’s band of counter-attackers.
Brave decisions are the need of the hour – but then that’s what separates the good managers from the great ones.
#4 Mourinho\'s big-game tactics
Jose Mourinho loves playing the underdog. That uncanny knack of shifting the pressure on to the opponent has worked wonders for the Portugese tactician, as shown by the statistic which says Mourinho averages the most points of all EPL managers in ‘Big 4’ matches.
Away from home, against a formidable outfit, Mourinho will resort to his favourite template – play an extra midfielder, deny the opposition space, keep them at bay, defend resolutely and make the most of set-pieces and other chances. In other words, this is the quintessintial Mourinho match, expected to finish with the not-so-surprising scoreline of 1-0 to the Blues.
But this season, Chelsea are no longer underdogs. In fact, they are very clearly the favourites to win the title. Fans expect them to win this match comfortably – after all, they are the best team in England at the moment.
So what does Mourinho do? Stick to what he knows best, or cater to the fans and go for the win from the outset?
#5 Early kick-off on Saturday
Mourinho expressed his disgust at the fact that Chelsea had to play on Saturday lunch-time despite playing less than 72 hours ago in the Champions League. Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City meanwhile have had more time to prepare for their weekend fixtures, an issue that is sure to grate with the Chelsea boss.
Chelsea’s midweek excursion saw Mourinho play most of his first-choice players. Cesc Fabregas, Nemanja Matic, Eden Hazard, Willian, John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic all started against Maribor on Wednesday. Fabregas, Matic and Hazard played the full 90 minutes as well.
Contrast this with Liverpool, for whom Raheem Sterling, Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Glen Johnson and Mario Balotelli started on the bench against Real Madrid.
Whilst having fresher players does not guarantee a victory, it is a slight advantage over your rivals to have an extra day off to prepare for the match – mentally and physically. The early kick-off could work out in Liverpool’s favour after all, something that Mourinho has voiced his concerns over in the past week.
