Champions League / Mike Norman / 21 April 2008 / Leave a comment

"Mystical" Mike Norman looks into his crystal ball to try to predict what will happen when Liverpool and Chelsea meet on Tuesday night. The conclusion: bet on few goals.

Live sport - one of the best forms of entertainment available, and still able to be enjoyed from the comfort of your armchair. Only in live sport do you find yourself shuffling to the edge of your seat, gripped by the action in front of you, while you're wondering what's going to happen next, who is going to become the hero, will it all end in tears, will it all end in joy? It's a far cry from the soap opera's that have tens of millions of viewers mesmerised every week, despite them all knowing what's going to happen in advance.

This Tuesday gives us all the chance to watch two of football's real life soap operas go head-to-head in the first leg of the Champions League Semi-Final. Liverpool host Chelsea in what promises to be one of the all-time great clashes between the two sides. Both sets of players will be desperate to get on the pitch and let some football do the talking, rather than the usual squabbles about who has fell out with who in the Liverpool boardroom or whether Avram Grant has a future at Chelsea.

You have to feel for the Liverpool fans, and even as a neutral I'm slightly embarrassed by the situation. They are on the brink of their third Champions League final in the last four seasons yet the only headlines we are waking up to is that Tom Hicks has stuck some more needles in his Rick Parry and George Gillett voodoo dolls. As a Liverpool fan said to me just yesterday, Gillett (who apparently isn't the best a man can get), Hicks and Parry need locking up in a room together for an hour, and if they still can't resolve this mess then they should all walk away from the club.

As for Chelsea, the situation isn't that much better. Rumours that Grant has to win the Champions League to keep his job (even then I think he will be ousted), rumours that Abramovich not only buys the players but he also picks the team etc. All this can't be good for the morale of the club - some players don't know whether they are coming or going, in or out of the team, have a future at the club, or are being lined up for sale.

Thank goodness then that most players don't give a jot about what goes on in the boardroom, and thank goodness that every player that steps onto the pitch on Tuesday evening will be desperate to put in a match winning performance. With 22 international players on show, a passionate Anfield crowd, and the intensity and nervousness that such a huge semi-final brings, then it will be impossible not to be entertained.

I don't really have a strong opinion on the outcome of the match, and as a neutral I'm just hoping for a great game of football. Liverpool are the slight favourites to win the tie at [2.42], with the draw being available at [3.1] and a Chelsea victory at [3.7]. I would love to see Liverpool meet Manchester United in the final, so I will probably take the double your money odds of [2.04] about Liverpool qualifying after the two legs; Chelsea are [1.95] to qualify.

It's certainly worth pointing out that Liverpool and Chelsea have met six times in the Champions League in recent years with three matches ending goalless and three ending 1-0. So given those results, and the fact that both teams will be strong defensively, then 'Under 2.5 Goals' looks a given at [1.56] - however, you can have [2.74] for 'Over 2.5 Goals' if you fancy the trend to be bucked, or even [5.7] about 'Over 3.5 Goals' if you fancy either team to go goal crazy!

Not surprisingly, the four shortest priced options in the 'Correct Score' market are a 1-1 draw ([6.8]), 1-0 to Liverpool ([7.0]), 0-0 ([7.2]), and 1-0 to Chelsea ([9.4]). An uncharacteristic 2-2 draw for these two teams is available at [24], while a 3-3 outcome can be backed at [120] - now that really would be soap opera material.

Both teams will have all their star players available, with only Michael Essien missing out because of suspension, so as normal in these games, it's difficult to look beyond the usual suspects when having a 'First Goalscorer' bet - Torres can be backed at [5.9] with Gerrard at [9.4], while for Chelsea Drogba is the most likely to net first at [7.8], closely followed by Lampard at [11].

Tags: Anfield, Champions League betting, football betting, Rafa Benitez