Football betting: Carling Cup - Chelsea v Liverpool

Paddy Power are offering a Once in A Blue Moon special for Wednesday's Carling Cup clash between Chelsea and Liverpool and with both sides expected to field understrength sides it could well be an offer worth taking up.

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After disappointing 1-0 defeats that dented both sides' title aspirations on Sunday, the Reds and the Blues will both be looking to return to winning ways at Stamford Bridge.

However, it is no secret that the Premier League is the priority and with both Liverpool and Chelsea keeping half an eye on the weekend's tricky matches, against Portsmouth and Blackburn respectively, the two line-ups are anyone's guess.

Chelsea don't have a great deal of choice at the back with John Terry out for six weeks and Ricardo Carvalho still not ready to return so Tal Ben Haim will accompany Alex in a rearguard that offered scant protection to Petr Cech at the Emirates on Sunday - they will probably offer as little to Carlo Cudicini this time around.

And with Didier Drogba out Avram Grant will probably persist with Andriy Shevchenko, who had a decent game against Arsenal and is beginning to improve with more games under his belt.

Sheva scored against Sunderland recently and will be looking to make amends for his near misses against the Gunners when Liverpool come to town. Which makes Paddy Power's cashback offer refunding all correct scorer, scorecasts, first and last goalscorer bets in the event of the Ukrainian scoring an attractive proposition.

Rafa Benitez reshuffles his pack more often than a hyperactive croupier and with a bloated squad at his disposal it's anyone's guess which side he puts out.

Against Cardiff he deployed the likes of Sebastien Leto, Lucas, Nabil El Zhar and Jack Hobbs but mysteriously threw Steven Gerrard into the fray for the full 90 minutes.

A similar approach is likely this time, although with Xavi Alonso close to fitness again the Spaniard could well get a start in a side still smarting from back-to-back defeats.

Without Drogba leading the line, Chelsea are not the force they were but Liverpool looked very disjointed against Manchester United. Recent matches between these sides have produced very close affairs and the need for healing wounds is shared by both.

So with very little to choose between these two close rivals a 1-1 correct score looks to be the best bet. Remember, if it doesn't pay off a Shevchenko goal could come to the rescue.

Verdict: 1pt Chelsea v Liverpool correct score 1-1 @ 9/2 (Once in A Blue Moon Special Paddy Power)

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