Chelsea vs Liverpool: Champions League latest

Jon Arne Riise's last-minute own goal at Anfield last week has understandably made Chelsea favourites to reach the Champions League final for the first time at the expense of Liverpool on Wednesday night (KO 7.45pm Sky Sports 2).

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The 1-1 first leg result was harsh on Liverpool who completely outplayed Avram Grant's side for all but 15 minutes of the first half. However, Riise's last-gasp gift could prove to be the turning point of the season for Chelsea, who have since gone on to beat Manchester United to revive their Premier and Champions League double hopes.

Liverpool are excellent at protecting an advantage but will be concerned at having to get a result at Stamford Bridge, where they have never won under Rafa Benitez's tenure.

Chelsea, even without the grieving Frank Lampard, will be confident of sitting tight and erecting a big blue wall in midfield comprised of the teeth-gnashing likes of Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel and Michael Ballack, while the onus will be on Liverpool to push forward and find a way through – a position that doesn't suit their counter-attacking style.

However, the Reds are past masters in this competition and have beaten Chelsea twice at this stage in the last four years. While Chelsea have the momentum and the away goal in their favour, you get the feeling that Liverpool will always pull a result out when they need to.

They recovered from acquiring just one point from their first three group matches in this competition to win their last three matches, they have managed to score in all but one of their 11 European matches to date including away at Inter Milan and Arsenal and were far superior to Chelsea last week.

Fernando Torres has had a phenomenal first season at the club and he, as well as big-game goalscorers Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard, will be a major threat. This is a very close one to call and, as predicted in this column in the first leg, there will not be many goals, but Liverpool have what it takes to shade it at generous odds.

Verdict: 2pts Liverpool to win @ 5/2; 2pts Liverpool to qualify @ 1.72; 1pt Liverpool to win 1-0 @ 9/1

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