PRE-MATCH BRIEFING: CHELSEA V LIVERPOOL - PART ONE

PRE-MATCH BRIEFING: CHELSEA V LIVERPOOL - PART ONE

It is the final game of 2013. Club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton keep the Christmas facts and figures coming…

TALKING POINTSThe first half of Boxing Day's victory over Swansea City was arguably Chelsea's best 45 minutes since the visit to West Ham in November.There was pressing high up the pitch, defensive anchor Mikel was marauding forward and many chances were created. The problem is that 1-0 was - yet again - only a fair reflection of the opportunities taken, not those on offer, of which there were nearly 20.

This match marks the turning point of the season, the last match of the first round against our Barclays Premier League opponents. At the halfway stage last season Chelsea had accrued 38 points - one more than the total before this game. Anything above that after this weekend from the opening 19 would represent the best return since the 2009/10 Double season.

Although the Blues have won 15 of the last 17 games at the Bridge, we have not beaten Liverpool in the Premier League for more than three-and-a-half years. It would require greater efficiency - especially in front of goal and away from home - to emulate the success of that season, but let us not yet rule it out.

The corresponding fixture in 2012/13 ended in a 1-1 draw. John Terry scored for the Blues from a Juan Mata corner but then left the field injured, Luis Suarez later heading an equaliser in the skipper's absence. Suarez has hit 19 goals in 13 Premier League games this season.

KEY STATIf selected John Terry will make his 600th appearance and join Ron Harris, Peter Bonetti and Frank Lampard as the only players to reach that milestone.

Football teaches that few things are permanent. Liverpool, arguably the team of the '70s and '80s, have not won the league since 1989/90 but have finished runners-up twice in the last 12 years.

Chelsea actually won a European title, the 1971 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, two years before Liverpool's first continental success, but the Londoners' Champions League win in 2012 came seven years after the Reds' most recent victory in the tournament.

While the lack of any European football at Anfield this season is indicative of their reduced circumstances, it may have aided their bright showing in the Premier League while their rivals have other matters to attend to.

Nevertheless the campaign has taken its toll and Steven Gerrard is out of Sunday's game with a hamstring injury. As we all know, he came very, very close to joining Chelsea in the summer of 2005. Since being convinced out of the move he has won the FA Cup once with his hometown club.

Had he made the switch he would have won the Premier League twice, the Champions League once, the Europa League once, the FA Cup four times, the League Cup once. If selected, of course.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers returns to face the club that helped launch his coaching career, looking after the youth and then the reserve team.

Barclays Premier League fixtures
Saturday
West Ham v West Brom 12.45pm - Sky Sports
Aston Villa v Swansea 3pm
Hull v Fulham 3pm
Manchester City v Crystal Palace 3pm
Norwich v Manchester United 3pm
Cardiff v Sunderland 5.30pm - Sky Sports
SundayEverton v Southampton 1.30pm
Newcastle v Arsenal 1.30pm - Sky Sports
Chelsea v Liverpool 4pm - Sky Sports
Tottenham v Stoke 4pm

Barclays Premier League top eight
Top		Pld	Gd	Pts
1	Arsenal	18	+18	39
2	Liverpool	18	+32	38
3	Chelsea	18	+15	37
4	Man City	18	+22	36
5	Everton	18	+12	34
6	Newcastle	18	+6	33
7	Tottenham	18	+9	31
8	Man United	18	-5	31

Top eight mini-league *
Top		Pld	Gd	Pts
1	Man City	7	+18	18
2	Everton	7	+1	12
3	Newcastle	6	-1	10
4	Liverpool	6	+3	8
5	Arsenal	6	-1	8
6	Chelsea	6	-2	6
7	Man Utd	7	-5	5
8	Tottenham	7	-13	3

* Points earned from games between the current top eight teams

CHELSEA STATSChelsea have won 15 and drawn three of our last 18 home Barclays Premier League games since QPR won at Stamford Bridge on 2 January.

Chelsea have gained 11 points from losing positions this season, the best record in the Premier League.

Jose Mourinho is unbeaten at Stamford Bridge in all his 84 domestic games in open play. In the Premier League it's 69 unbeaten.

Last six results
Dec 7	Stoke (a)	L 2-3
Dec 11	Steaua Bucharest (Champions League h)	W 1-0
Dec 14	Crystal Palace (h)	W 2-1
Dec 17	Sunderland (Capital One Cup a)	L 1-2 aet
Dec 23	Arsenal (a)	D 0-0
Dec 26	Swansea (h)	W 1-0

Premier League scorers (33)
Hazard 7 (1 pen), Oscar 5, Lampard 4 (1 pen), Schürrle 3, Eto'o 2, Terry 2, Torres 2, own goals 2, Ba 1, Cahill 1, Ivanovic 1, Mikel 1, Ramires 1, Willian 1.

League games sinceA home win: 0
A home draw: 3
A home defeat: 18

Chelsea's next three games
Wed 1 Jan	Southampton away	3.00pm
Sun 5 Jan	Derby (FA Cup) away	2.15pm
Sat 11 Jan	Hull away	12.45pm

MILESTONES Petr Cech requires one clean sheet to equal Peter Bonetti's club record 208 in all competitions.

If selected, Fernando Torres will make his 150th appearance for the Blues.

Frank Lampard's next converted penalty will be his 50th for the Blues.

Frank's next goal will be his 250th in his club career (Chelsea 209, West Ham 39, Swansea 1).

LIVERPOOL STATSFormed 1892

Major trophies18 League championships, last in 1990
7 FA Cups, last in 2006
8 League Cups, last in 2012
15 FA Charity/Community Shields (5 shared), last in 2006
5 European Cups, last in 2005
3 UEFA Cups, last in 2001
3 UEFA Super Cups, last in 2005

Their last top-flight championship win was in the old First Division over 23 years ago when a points total of 79 was enough to lift the trophy in 1990.

Liverpool have won 12 points on the road from a possible 27 this term. Three wins at Aston Villa, Sunderland and Tottenham, three draws at Swansea, Newcastle and Everton and three defeats at Arsenal, Hull and Man City.

The Reds are the Premier League's second top scorers behind Man City.

Liverpool have only failed to score in one away game this season which was against Arsenal in November

They have won 11 of the 13 games when they have opened the scoring, drawing one and losing to Man City on Thursday but haven't won any of the five games their opponents scored first.

Manager Brendan Rodgers
Days in charge: 576
Played 74
Won 37
Drawn 18
Lost 19

Liverpool's last 10 year league history
	Pts	Pos
2003/04	60	4th
2004/05	58	5th
2005/06	82	3rd
2006/07	68	3rd
2007/08	76	4th
2008/09	86	2nd
2009/10	63	7th
2010/11	58	6th
2011/12	52	8th
2012/13	61	7th

Last six results
Dec 1	Hull (a)	L 1-3
Dec 4	Norwich (h)	W 5-1
Dec 7	West Ham (h)	W 4-1
Dec 15	Tottenham (a)	W 5-0
Dec 21	Cardiff (h)	W 3-1
Dec 26	Man City (a)	L 1-2

Premier League scorers (43)
Suarez 19, Sturridge 9, Gerrard 3 (2 pens), Sterling 3, Coutinho 2, own goals 2, Flanagan 1, Henderson 1, Moses 1, Sakho 1, Skrtel 1.

League games sinceAn away win: 1
An away draw: 3
An away defeat: 0

THE MAN IN THE MIDDLEHoward Webb is the referee for his third Chelsea match this term. He was the official for our games at Everton and at home to Manchester City.

OTHERWISE ENGAGEDRamires is suspended (one match) for reaching five yellow cards this term. Victor Moses is ineligible due to the terms of his loan.

David Luiz is one domestic booking away from a suspension having received four yellow cards this season. He will miss the game against Southampton if he is booked against Liverpool.

Liverpool is the last game before five yellow cards will not result in a ban. From 1 January players will only receive a warning

source : www.chelseafc.com

Kalam Kudus Surakarta Choir - Tabuhlah Gendang, Goliath, Sik Asik

Laga-Laga Internasional: Inggris Tetap Di Puncak Klasemen, Brasil Raih Kemenangan

Frank Lampard memenangkan cap ke-100 untuk Inggris pada Rabu dini hari, dan membantu negaranya meraih hasil imbang di laga tandang di Ukraina yang bisa vital bagi mereka. Selain Lampard, dalam line-up Inggris juga terdapat nama Gary Cahill dan Ashley Cole, dan Cahill secaa khusus tampil impresif di pusat pertahanan Inggris. Kedua pemain beberapa kali melakukan intersepsi untuk memastikan Inggris tidak kebobolan. Namun headline utama pertandingan itu menjadi milik Lampard, yang menjadi pemain kedelapan yang mencapai 100 caps bersama Inggris, dan sang gelandang hampir mencetak gol kemenangan lewat sundulan di masa injury time di akhir pertandingan yang berjalan ketat tersebut. Hasil seri itu membuat Inggris tetap berada di puncak Grup H dengan dua pertandingan tersisa. Di pertandingan kualifikasi Piala Dunia lainnya, Petr Cech beraksi untuk Republik Ceska, dan melihat timnya sempat meraih keunggulan atas Italia di Turin sebelum kebobolan dua gol dari Giorgio Chiellini dan Mario Balotelli dan membuat mereka mengalami kekalahan 2-1, dan memastikan Italia mendapatkan tempat di Brasil bersamaan dengan Belanda, yang juga meraih kemenangan di malam itu. Hasil-hasil itu membuat Ceska berada di tempat keempat, empat poin di belakang Bulgaria yang berada di posisi kedua di Grup B, sementara Denmark berada tiga poin di depan mereka.

Branislav Ivanovic bersama Serbia meraih kemenangan 3-0 di laga tandang menghadapi Wales di Cardiff, di mana ia menjadi kapten bagi negaranya dalam kemenangan itu, meski dengan jauhnya keunggulan Belgia, yang tidak memiliki pertandingan malam tadi, dan juga Kroasia, mereka dipastikan tidak akan lolos ke turnamen di musim panas tahun depan.

Andre Schurrle bermain di 15 menit terakhir sebagai pemain pengganti saat Jerman menang 3-0 di laga tandang di Kepulauan Faroe, yang membuat mereka membutuhkan satu kemenangan dari dua pertandingan tersisa untuk memastikan kelolosan mereka. Dalam pertandingan persahabatan di Amerika Serikat, Brasil bangkit dari ketertinggalan untuk meraih kemenangan 3-1 setelah Raul Meireles memberikan Portugal keunggulan. Thiago Silva, Neymar, dan Jo mencetak gol-gol Brasil, dan ada berita bagus bahwa Oscar bisa masuk bermain di setengah jam terakhir setelah tak tampil di pertandingan Brasil pada akhir pekan kemarin karena cedera. Ia menggantikan Ramires, sementara David Luiz bermain penuh. Di babak kualifikasi Piala Eropa U-21, Andreas Chirstensen tampil selama 90 menit di lini belakang Denmark saat mereka meraih hasil imbang 2-2 di laga tandang di Slovenia. The Danes kini berada di posisi kedua di grup mereka setelah menjalani tiga pertandingan. John Mikel Obi dan Victor Moses, yang sedang dipinjamkan, tidak tampil saat Nigeria menang di laga persahabatan melawan Burkina Faso.

Lampard Memuji Duo Pemain Belakang

Frank Lampard merupakan pemain Chelsea yang paling menarik perhatian ketika bermain untuk Inggris melawan Ukraina kemarin, tetapi setelah pertandingan, ia justru menyoroti penampilan dua rekan seklubnya yang juga bermain bersamanya. Gary Cahill dan Ashley Cole ikut ambil bagian di sektor pertahanan yang berhasil tak kebobolan malam itu. Hasil imbang 0-0 itu membuat Inggris tetap berada di puncak grup babak kualifikasi Piala Dunia mereka dengan dua pertandingan tersisa. Cahill banyak mendapatkan pujian karena penampilannya malam itu, termasuk ketika merebut bola yang krusial ketika timnya sedang ditekan. Lampard pun menambahkan pujian untuknya. "Gary telah tampil konsisten di banyak pertandingan yang sulit yang telah kami mainkan seperti di final Liga Champions dan Europa League," katanya. "Ia selalu tampil fantastis di laga-laga seperti itu. Ia telah begitu banyak bermain mengingat ia baru bersama kami (Chelsea) beberapa tahun dan sekarang ia menjadi pilihan pertama bagi Inggris." Mengenai Cole, yang juga telah mendapatkan cap ke-100nya untuk Inggris, Lampard mengatakan: "Saya pikir ia fantastis, ia adalah pemain terbaik kami." "Ia terus menempel ketat pemain sayap kanan mereka, dan tidak memberikannya kesempatan untuk berlari masuk ke are apenalti. Kecepatan dan kebugarannya untuk usia sepertinya adalah hal yang fantastis. Ia memiliki kepekaan yang sangat bagus dan orang-orang sering membicarakan kemampuan menyerangnya, tetapi secara defensif pun ia sangat luar biasa." "Ia begitu bagus ketika mendapatkan tugas menghadapi pemain-pemain sayap kelas atas. Ukraina memiliki pemain-pemain sayap yang sangat bagus dan Ashley mampu memblok mereka."