PREVIEW
Liverpool host Chelsea in the penultimate game of an awful league campaign, which will see the Reds finish mid-table, probably behind city rivals Everton, and more importantly fail to make it back into the Champions League yet again.

There was a chance over the weekend to add the FA Cup to their Carling Cup, but Chelsea came out on top in at Wembley, winning 2-1 to deny Liverpool a Cup double.

Chelsea's league campaign has been a failure too as they will probably miss out on 4th place, but the Blues have a chance at making everything ok when they play Bayern Munich at the end of the season.

If Chelsea win that match, and they will not just have won the FA Cup and the Champions League, but have qualified for next seasons CL through the backdoor, just like Liverpool did not too long ago.

Make no mistake, Chelsea know it is pointless trying to salvage 4th over the next 2 games. Their collective minds will be completely distracted as they are still recovering from their hard-fought FA Cup triumph and dreaming of that massive final in Munich, where they will get to exorcise the ghosts of that painful loss to Manchester United and book their place into next years competition.

Liverpool have been poor all season. But that is no reason to believe they will slip up here. The season is over, with nothing to gain but something to lose. They simply must finish well, with wins in the last 2 games. To end a season in dismal fashion could result in manager Kenny Dalglish being sacked, despite the Carling Cup triumph, as the American owners have invested in this prestigious club to compete at the highest level. Beating Cardiff City on penalties for the Carling Cup is not what they came here for.

Liverpool have not just lost the Cup final, they have been soundly beaten in their last 2 home games too, failing even to score. Liverpool should not be losing 1-0 at home to Fulham and West Bromwich Albion, but that is exactly what has happened. What Liverpool have to take confidence from is the fact they ran Chelsea very close in Saturdays final, losing 2-1, and that in recent league meetings, they have been the better side. Liverpool have won 5 of the last 7 Premier League meetings against Chelsea, including the last 3 in a row!

Andy Carroll seems to finally found a bit of form, but it has come too late. So far the ex-Newcastle striker has scored 3 in his last 5 matches, and could so easily have had a brace in the final too, but it was not to be. He simply must continue that form here against a distracted Chelsea side, and I feel they have a good chance because they will be out for revenge, while Chelsea may take it easy and suffer a letdown.

I was going to suggest my bet from the FA Cup final, which was both teams to score, but I notice that in the last 7 matches these 2 have played 5 matches have seen at least 1 side fail to score. That has to be a concern here, and as I feel the motivation will be stronger with Liverpool, they are the likelier scorers. It doesn't help that they have netted just 11 goals against Chelsea in the last 10 meetings at Anfield.

BETTING VERDICT
Right, Liverpool has to be the selection for me, and the 2.43 on offer at Pinnacle is great value.

I had a feeling the FA Cup final would be decided by a margin of 1 goal, and that theory still applies here. Why not take the risk and have a value bet taking Liverpool to record the narrowest of victories.

Addicted Betting Tip : Liverpool To Win