Compelling Soccer

Chelski v. Liverpool

Chelsea: 18 pts, 2nd in the Premiership

Liverpool: 15 pts, 4th in the Premiership
Stakes: The Reds were streaking until a trip to Italy mid week resulted in a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Fiorentina. Liverpool's reward? A visit to Stamford Bridge and a showdown with Chelsea. During this run, Liverpool's been beating up on the weaker sisters of the Premiership; victories over Hull City, West Ham, Bolton and Burnley are necessary if you want to win the league. But they don't show where you rank among the top squads. The winner here is truly in the thick of the title race, especially as Man U dropped two points at home to Sunderland yesterday. The loser finds themselves severely handicapped, especially if that loser wears a red kit. Six points behind may not seem like much, but it's a mountain to climb.

Thoughts on the Opposing Side: I opened this by referring to Roman Abramovich's boys as Chelski. Doesn't that tell you what you need to know? The Blues are perrenial favorites to win the Premiership and with good reason. Their side boasts an impressive lineup. I've heard of pretty much everyone on their team and have a healthy fear of Didier Drogba. Frank Lampard may be a fat %#@! to English fans, but he's still a damn good player who needs to be accounted for. John Terry needs no introduction. Also apparently people like Joe Cole. I don't know why.

Aside, my supervisor's favorite soccer player is on Chelsea's roster, Paulo Ferreira. My boss doesn't actually like soccer, he is just of Portuguese descent and has the same last name. I doubt I'll have anything to report back on how he does today; Ferreira's started as many games as my boss has in the Premiership this year.

Thankfully, there are no Americans to follow. That way I don't have to write about how I'm looking forward to seeing them in action only to have them ride the pine.

Questions I Have: Was the Reds success a product of their form, or their schedule? The answer is always a mix of both, but you'd much rather the prevailing aspect to be their skill and talent level. Fiorentina was a bad indication, but not necessarily indicative of the larger picture. How they play at Stamford Bridge against one of the best sides in Europe will go a long way to verifying if the mid week hiccup was in fact something more.

Rafa also indicated changes will be coming. What does that mean? Could that mean Lucas hits the pine? Will we see more Ryan Babel? Will Fabio Aurelio make it into the starting XI?

Will I Be Watching: Oh yes, on Fox Soccer Channel's beautiful low def feed. Seriously, you're FOX. Would it kill you to finally go HD? Or do you just want ESPN to steal your already niche audience.

Expectations:I don't know. I want to say a point would be a good outcome here. On the other hand, Chelsea has many of the same "schedule v. form" questions that Liverpool does. Their best win was against Tottenham, at home. Liverpool lost to Spurs, but that was the opener, on the road. Other than that, Chelsea's beaten no one of Premiership relevance and fell to Wigan last week. The same Wigan side that yesterday lost to Hull City. These two sides both have a lot to prove. But, given the situation and my natural pessimism, I'll say one point.