Chelsea v Liverpool, Sunday 4th October

My Thoughts

This weekend sees another BIG TOP 4 OMG THE APOCALYPSE IS COMING SUPERAMAZING FORD SUPER FANTASTIC SUNDAY SHOWDOWN!!!!! in the Premier League (suppose the La Liga is Better League isn't such a great name), with Chelsea and Liverpool going tete-a-tete, once bar staff throughout the nation return their tables and chairs to their rightful places after the Old Firm game.

Both sides, it has to be said, were disappointing on Champions League duty in midweek; although Chelsea laboured to a 1-0 win away at APOEL Nicosia, Liverpool were horsed 2-0 away at Fiorentina, which resulted in one unhappy fat Spanish waiter.

The Verdict
Given their recent results (and the tendency of these matches to be somewhat underwhelming affairs), expect a mixture of tedious dullness and dull tediousness. Due to Petr Cech's suspension, Chelsea will start with either Hilarious or the slightly more amusing Ross Turnbull in goals. In attack, Nicolas Anelka v Jamie Carragher looks set to resemble an encounter between a bulldozer and a Lambourghini. For Liverpool, Javier Mascherano could return to kick people (the number of hatchet men who could be deployed in this one on both sides is staggering, all that would be needed would be Lee Cattermole and Kearney from the Simpsons), while Daniel Agger played for the reserves this week, but is unlikely to be considered.

These matches, as previously stated, have a tendency to be underwhelming, last season's Champions League ding-dong between these two notwithstanding, and it could well come down to which side's two players, I mean star players, perform on the day (Torres and Jukebox Gerrard for Liverpool, Drogba and Rank Lampard for Chelsea), in what is likely to be a low-scoring affair.

The Bet
Under 2.5 goals is available at a general 8/11- these games are also notorious for slow starts, therefore 0-0 at half-time at 17/10 with expekt.com is worth considering. Also, as previously stated, due to the "combative" nature of some of the players likely to be on show, a sending-off in the game at a general 5/2 could be a shout.