After both sides disappointed in the FA Cup this weekend, Chelsea and Liverpool will have to dust themselves off for tonight, as they both attempt to progress to the final of this season’s League Cup.

Whilst Chelsea are still comfortably atop the Premier League, cracks have begun to appear, with the Blues suffering two embarrassing defeats in their last 6 games. A 5-3 defeat at White Hart Lane on New Year’s Day could at least be rationalised as Tottenham are top flight competition; their 4-2 defeat, at home, to a 7th placed League One Bradford City side is just bizarre. Chelsea’s performance tonight may be down to how well the bruised egos at Stamford Bridge can recover from their first home loss in 17 games. They might come back with a point to prove, buoyed by the return of Costa, Terry, Ivanovic and Matic, whose absences proved costly on Saturday.



On the other hand, Liverpool might be able to capitalise on a mentally shocked Chelsea side, a side Mourinho blanked in anger after Bradford’s victory. Whilst a 0-0 draw against Bolton isn’t exactly brilliant, at least Liverpool are still in the FA Cup, which is more than Chelsea can say, and the Reds will be confident after their strong performance against at Anfield in the first leg of this clash. Despite Chelsea having an away goal, Liverpool have scored in their last 6 visits to Stamford Bridge; all it will take is one goal for Chelsea’s advantage to be wiped out. The Reds also have 5 away wins on the trot, and despite sitting 8th in the league, have a real chance to bring further upset to Camp Mourinho.

As mentioned, Chelsea will see an influx of rested players after they sat out Saturday’s nightmare; Liverpool too should see the return of Gerrard and Skrtel, whilst Daniel Sturridge, back in training after his thigh problems, is a possibility. The usual suspects are present in Spreadex’s fixed odds betting to score first: Chelsea sees Costa with 17 goals at 9/2, with Hazard at 11/2 on 12 goals, Oscar at 8/1 on 7 and Didier Drogba overall favourite at 7/2 with 6 goals. Compared to Chelsea’s frontline Liverpool’s striker situation looks even more paltry; Gerrard, who has only ever scored once against Chelsea in 37 appearances against the Blues, is at 11/1 with 9 goals, whilst Raheem Sterling is at 9/1 with 7 goals and Adam Lallana is 12/1 with only 4 goals.

With Chelsea’s hopes of a quadruple now dashed, Mourinho will be desperate to take the first step towards a lesser version of the Treble, and Liverpool may have to watch out for a Chelsea side looking for vengeance. With this in mind, alongside their away goal advantage and stronger attacking options, our Spreadex clients fancy a Chelsea/Liverpool Goal Supremacy spread betting quote 0.9-1.1, with a Total Goals spread betting quote 2.75-2.95.