Chelsea VS Liverpool

TEAM NEWS

Chelsea captain John Terry could be restored to the side after completing his four-match domestic ban.

Juan Mata and David Luiz are fit after missing the draw with Swansea last weekend, but Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard remain out.
Liverpool's Glen Johnson returns from a hamstring injury to face his former club, while goalkeeper Pepe Reina could be fit following a similar problem.
There will be a recall for several players rested in Europe on Thursday.

MATCH PREVIEW

Logic suggests that Liverpool cannot win this game, but history suggests otherwise. They have, after all, secured a Premier League double over Chelsea in three of the last four seasons and have lost only two of their last 11 league meetings.
Even so, it's hard to see beyond a Chelsea win. That's not to criticise Brendan Rodgers, who is stripping down the Anfield bodywork and engine to start afresh almost from scratch. It looks like it's only the beginning of the major overhaul which Liverpool have needed for some time - but it may get worse for them before it starts getting better.

Chelsea have been excellent in the league this season. There cannot be many better threesomes than Oscar, Mata and Hazard, and a winning Chelsea team without Frank Lampard and John Terry is suddenly not only looking plausible but actually preferable.

I am convinced their biggest hurdle to success continues to lie upfront. The reality is that defender Gary Cahill's goals per game record at the club is superior to that of Fernando Torres, and the Spaniard is almost always unrecognisable from the player who was so electric in his first two years at Liverpool.
He looks resigned to his diminished power and pace, weighed down by frustration and thoroughly unhappy. I don't put this down to leaving Liverpool or to joining Chelsea, but rather to the effects of injuries that started to take their toll when he was still at Anfield, along with an unrelenting schedule of summer football - Torres has had one summer off since 2007.
I am sure that had Torres stayed at Liverpool, he would still have become the player we see now rather than the dashing blade of Atletico and Anfield. Torres is the only member of Chelsea's squad to have started every game for which he has been available this season - a sign of weakness rather than one of strength - and one which the club will look to address in January.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• This will be the fifth time the sides have met in the past 12 months. They met four times last season; Liverpool did the double over Chelsea in the league and beat them in the League Cup quarter-finals, but the Blues beat the Reds in the FA Cup final.
• Chelsea and Liverpool have met 32 times in various competitions in the last eight seasons. Chelsea won 13 of those games, and Liverpool 12.
• Liverpool are looking for a fifth consecutive Premier League victory over Chelsea. That would represent their longest winning sequence in this fixture for 38 years.

Chelsea

• Chelsea have only earned one point from their last two games. They have never gone three league matches without a win under manager Roberto Di Matteo.
• The Blues have conceded eight goals in their last five league matches, failing to keep a clean sheet, having let in only two goals in their opening five fixtures.
• Di Matteo's side have recovered to win all three league matches in which they were behind this season.
• Fernando Torres scored 81 goals in 142 appearances for Liverpool between 2007 and 2011. His tally of 11 goals in 56 Premier League games for Chelsea is in contrast to the 38 goals he scored for Liverpool after the same number of matches.

Liverpool

• They are unbeaten in their last five league matches (W2, D3), having failed to win any of their opening five games.
• The Reds have failed to beat top-half opposition this season, recording three draws and three defeats.
• Liverpool have registered 88 shots off target, more than any other team in the Premier League prior to this weekend's fixtures.
• They have won only one of their last 29 Premier League games when they have trailed 1-0 at half-time.
• Luis Suarez has scored five goals in his last five Premier League appearances.