Chelsea is coming off a win by the narrowest of margins in the FA Cup final, but the Blues still have something to fight for when they visit Anfield on Tuesday afternoon.
While winning its fourth FA Cup in six years is nice for Chelsea's trophy room, the most important piece of hardware left this season is the silver one with the big handles. And although their best shot at competing in next season's Champions League is by winning this year's final against Bayern Munich, the Blues will not want to risk missing out on the 2012/13 edition of the lucrative competition, which is a looming possibility.Right now, Chelsea is five points behind Tottenham for the final Champions League spot, albeit with a game in hand. The Blues must defeat both Liverpool and Blackburn this week and hope for a one-two punch combination of Newcastle losing to Everton, a Spurs loss at home to Fulham, and, in a less likely scenario, Arsenal to lose at West Brom.
With so much at stake, Chelsea have had quite a gruelling schedule as of late - having played 8 games in April - and is in the midst of playing four games in 12 days before the big one against Bayern. That will take a toll on any team, and with major suspensions for that Champions League final, Roberto Di Matteo will more than likely be resting a few key starters for these remaining EPL matches. Players like Drogba, Bosingwa, Cole, Lampard and Mata are names widely speculated to not dress for this one.
Combine that with what is a pretty even away record of 6-5-7 (W-L-T), having scored 23 and allowing 18, it is not as if Chelsea is a juggernaut on the road. A Blues victory at Anfield is paying out 2.80 over at Ladbrokes.com.
Though Liverpool has had one of its roughest seasons in the Premiership - the Reds sit in ninth with a .500 record, along with as many draws at home (nine) as they do wins and losses combined - the club will be seeking venegeance for Saturday's loss to the Blues, and after a strong performance by Andy Carroll (who is expected to start this time). LFC is paying 2.40 to win its final home game of the season.
The draw bet seems like a good one at 3.40 for the aforementioned reasons. If you are on the bubble for the match result, here are some additional goalscorer offerings available to you to consider for the match:
1st Goalscorer:
Luis Suarez 6.00
Didier Drogba 6.50
Fernando Torres 6.50
Andrew Carroll 7.00
Last Goalscorer
Luis Suarez 6.00
Didier Drogba 6.50
Fernando Torres 6.50
Andrew Carroll 7.00
To Score at Anytime
Luis Suarez 2.50
Didier Drogba 2.62
Fernando Torres 2.62
Andrew Carroll 2.75
Steven Gerrard 3.25
Frank Lampard 3.25
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