Chelsea vs Liverpool – Preview: Torres or Drogba?

Andre Villas-Boas has to decide whether to start Didier Drogba who is back from his suspension or Fernando Torres against his old team.

Sadly the game has come too soon for Michael Essien who is still injured but he could be back next month.

Liverpool expect to have Luis Suarez available despite the Uruguayan getting injured against Chile during the week.

Jamie Carragher is also fit again, but Steven Gerrard has been ruled out.

Head-to-head

The two teams have met 28 times since October 2004 in various competitions,  with the Blues coming out on top with 12 wins compared to Liverpool’s nine.

Having said that, the Blues have not managed to score in five of their last seven Premier League games against Sunday’s visitors.

Kenny Dalglish has an excellent record against Chelsea, in his previous 11 games against Chelsea in all competitions he has won eight and drawn three.

Form

After the disastrous 5-3 defeat against Arsenal, the Blues came back with a 1-0 win against struggling Blackburn. The form guide is not pretty, it currently reads that in the last four league games Chelsea have collected six out of 12 points.

Liverpool have struggled against the promoted teams, they drew with Swansea and Norwich but picked up a credible 1-1 draw against Manchester United and maximum points against West Brom, Stoke and Everton.

Betting

The Blues are clear favourites at 10/11, with Liverpool at a very attractive 15/4 and a draw is 13/5.

With this likely to be a tight one, then under 2.5 goals is 5/6 which could be worth backing.

For anytime scorers, the ex-Liverpool players Torres and Raul Meireles 4/5 and 5s respectively, then the visitor’s star man Suarez is 15/8.

By Scott Balaam

Twitter @astambridge2far