Writer: Chubby 
Date:Wednesday October 22 2008
Time: 2:38PM
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Liverpool: Rafa's Views On Chelsea Match
Rafa's Views On Chelsea Match
It's pretty obvious to say that Liverpool's match with Chelsea on Sunday is an important match, but Rafa Benitez has said as much and stressed what this could mean to our season. The Reds are being mentioned as serious title contenders this season, and Benitez feels that the match at Stamford Bridge (as well as others against title contenders) will tell just how genuine our title chances are, as he explained:
'A Premier League season is very long and we now have a tough game coming up at Chelsea, which will show where we are headed.
'To win the title you have to do well against your direct rivals - we failed to do that last year.'
Jamie Carragher had spoken out about the going behind to come back and win trait that the Reds have adopted this season, saying we cant keep doing it and Rafa has also said this is the case and if we give Chelsea the lead the chances are we wont come back at all, let alone come back and win, he added:
'It goes without saying that it will be difficult against Chelsea if they take the lead.
'But we will take the right conclusions from the games against Manchester City and Wigan.
'It would be nice for our fans if we could lead by two or three goals at the break and they could enjoy the match.
'If it continues like this I will have to seek a neurologist. I don't like these late comebacks. Yet we demonstrated the will to win. The will makes us strong!'
The Spaniard also once again praised the form of Dirk Kuyt, who will again fill in for the injured Fernando Torres at Chelsea, continuing to add:
'Dirk played superbly against Man City and Wigan.
'It is often said that he scored too little in the Premier League - but he scored twice in the game against Wigan, so I cannot share this criticism.
'Dirk has proved he can play in every position on offence and that he is very determined.'
It goes without saying we are going to have to be at our very best to get anything from Chelsea. If we give them a head start then a point would probably be the best we can hope for, and a point is something that most of us would take now but if we could end their long, long, long unbeaten home record at Stamford Bridge then it would prove that we are very much in the running to be crowned league champions for the first time in almost 20-years!
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Your Comments
It is amazing how only this game can cause this amount of build-up to start early - for the Manure and Everton games the build-up started a couple of day beforehand at most, but because of the underlying rivalry, and the current league table, this game has seemingly been simmering for weeks already! I'll be glad when it's over and done with, because win, lose or draw, at least we might have a bit of peace and quiet for once.
Naoise
its still to earlier to be talking about the chelsea game. lets just focus on a.madrid first then after that we can talk about chelsea
muffdaddy1983
its silly...but so early in the season....and this could well be a title decider.....
lincolnblue
That's what happens though isn't it, instead of being asked question about the Atletico Madrid match (which came first) the press launch into the Chelsea one don't they, so he had to answer and this had to be covered, didn't it?
Chubby Alonso
lincolnblue - a title decider - come on please - don't get carried away it's October!
merlin
Given our home record, it's pretty unlikely you'll get three points. That's fair to say, I think. The advantage you have is that Chelsea are a little cagey at home; the problem relates to a fear of dropping the home record. Doing so against Liverpool of all clubs would be a huge boost for you and a real hit to Chelsea morale. Not a title decider but the importance of the match can't be understated.
RadioactiveD
radioactive - i seem to agree with what you are saying but i have for a long time thought that when you do lose your home record(which is which is a credit to all the players i might add) it would be to us or one of the teams that you are expected to beat like wigan,reading ect (no disrespect to them teams by the way). i know we have torres out but we played man u off the park without torres and gerrard so im not as worried as i would have been 2 years ago we have it in us now to be able to beat teams without our big players playing.
muffdaddy1983
There's an ongoing discussion about the home record and whether or not it's hindering Chelsea performances at home. The fact that we often play better away than at home, and yet have that incredible home record, is a difficult subject to get your mind around. Eventually, it will end, and no matter how you look at it--no matter who finally ends it--the loss will be hard to swallow. Of course Liverpool have the talent to end it, whether Torres is available or not. Kuyt and Keane have played well against us, and I always worry when Babel touches the ball. Even with all our injuries, Chelsea are passing the ball better than ever, so while you've improved this season, we certainly have too. No DD, no Ballack, no Essien, possibly no Joey--it's tough on us. These are important players. Many pundits are giving us the edge but I still fully believe in the enormous gap between the Big Four and the rest, even if the table doesn't currently reflect it. It will be close but hopefully the horror shows are over now that Scolari is in charge.
RadioactiveD
it will definitly be a close game im gonna go for 1-0 maybe 2-1 us of course ;) but anything can happen in these games.
muffdaddy1983
Chelsea have a tendency to play down to their opposition's level at times. Rosenborg, Cluj, Spurs...so if you play badly I don't think we'll run all over you. If anything, it will make us sloppy. If you play really well, it's something we can match. A close one indeed but I'm hoping for an open game. They've been awful to watch in the past.
RadioactiveD
There is definitely a worry amongst the players of losing that home record, and it's beginning to border on obsessive amongst some people as well, I think. I think it should be more of an open game than what we are used to with Chelsea-Liverpool, and I'm hoping that we can have the edge! It's by no means a title decider, but whoever wins has the chance to kick on and open up a bit of a gap at the top, and that cannot be underestimated in how important it is for a title race.
daspecial1
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