Champions League

Chelsea/ Liverpool

I know, I know, suddenly the world of sport and betting seems empty after the tragic events Monday at Discovery Cove, Florida.

In case you've only just drifted out of a coma and are unaware of the horror, the dolphins Sharky and Tyler were performing the "victory leap" finale of their routine, yet this time they collided head-on in mid-air and Sharky, a 30-year-old bottlenose, didn't make it, although was said to have been smiling to the end.

A glimpse at message boards suggests this is the animal kingdom's Lady Di moment, and there will doubtless be a minute's silence at aquariums around the planet. Still, life goes on, and performing their own head-on mid-air collision tonight are Chelsea and Liverpool. Which will be Sharky and which will be Tyler?

And more importantly, human race, when will we stop this cruel practice of pushing innocent men beyond their physical and emotional limits purely for our own entertainment? The Wager reckons Chelsea for the victory leap, Liverpool to breathe their last in the shallow end. Disagree? Then get your money on the reds and let the healing begin. 

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Chelsea
Last six: WDWDWW
Last six Champions League games: DWLWDD
Last six Champions League home games: WWDWDW
Injuries: Cudicini (hamstring, unknown)
Suspensions: None

Liverpool
Last six: DDWWWD
Last six Champions League games: DWDWWW
Last six Champions League away games: DWWLDW
Injuries: Aurelio (groin, May 31), Kewell (groin, June), Agger (ankle/foot, June)
Suspensions: None

1. Chelsea haven't lost a game that Solomon Kalou has started in all season.

2. Only two of the last sixteen Champions League finalists have finished fourth in their domestic league that season.

3. chickendinner superfact: Rafa Benitez has taken Liverpool to Stamford Bridge eight times, and they have never scored a goal.

4. Chelsea are unbeaten in their four clashes with Liverpool this season.

5. Under Benitez's stewardship, Liverpool have never been in a position where they have needed to win a second-leg tie away from home.

6. Liverpool haven't been to back-to-back Champions League finals since 1985.

7. Benitez has won just five of his nineteen encounters with Chelsea.

8. Chelsea have never lost at home to English opposition in a European competition.

9. Chelsea have not conceded a Champions League goal at Stamford Bridge since Avram Grant became manager.

10. They are unbeaten at home in sixty-six games.

11. This fixture finished 1-0 to Chelsea last season with Joe Cole scoring the winning goal.

12. Liverpool's top Champions League goalscorer Steven Gerrard has only scored once in twenty-four games with Chelsea - in a 4-1 home defeat.

13. Six of the last seven times where a Champions League first-leg has finished 1-1, the team who scored the away goal has progressed.

29/04/08

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