Chelsea vs Liverpool Betting Preview

Tuesday's evening fixtures in the English Carling Cup are pitting some of the top sides from the Premier League against each other. Chelsea face off against Liverpool while, in another fixture, Arsenal play host to high-flying Manchester City.

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As the tournament enters its quarter-final stages, many of the top Premier League sides remain in the mix but United will be facing off against the much simpler likes of Crystal Palace – who were in the top flight at one point not too far back. Blackburn Rovers travel to Cardiff City as the Welsh side are the only other non-Premier League side remaining in the competition.

Chelsea's defence has been under some stark criticism in the past few weeks and they flashed some of that inconsistency again this week when conceding late to lose out to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League. They then went on to romp over Mick McCarthy's Wolves side 3-0 on Saturday.

Interestingly enough, Andre Villas-Boas' men were defeated by Liverpool not a week and a half ago at home by a 2-1 margin.

Despite this, the bookmakers have listed Chelsea as the odds-on favourites to win this fixture with a 4/5 listing against Liverpool's 7/2 away price tag. The draw, which would see the match go into extra time, would pay out at a 5/2 margin.

Chelsea's strike partnership of Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres are the co-favourites to score the opening goal and to score at any point in the match. Considering the fact that Torres has still scored more league goals for Liverpool this year than he has Chelsea, you'd really have to go with Drogba on a price for price basis but you do have to respect that Torres has been looking more comfortable in recent weeks.

Daniel Sturride is also in the hunt to get the selection for tomorrow and they may opt to start Torres on the bench and perhaps use him as an impact substitute. The young England striker can be backed at a 9/2 margin. Nicolas Anelka may also be in the frame and he's priced at 5/1.

It's clear that the bookmakers really aren't sure which players are going to be starting the match so once the team sheets hit the newswires or Twitter, that's likely the best time to lock in your goalscorer wagers.

Unsurprisingly, Luis Suarez is listed as Liverpool's most likely goalscorer at a 6/1 price tag.