Personally I do not subscribe to either 'The Special One' or 'The Rotung One' when they say that they are not bothered whether they win the game tonight or whether they top the group at the finish. For Liverpool to top the group all they need is a draw. I believe we have witnessed a case of severe reverse psychology from both managers and only after tonight's encounter shall the winner be unveiled.

Ask any fan from either team and they would want to win. No doubt. Period.

At yesterday's press conference Jose said "We want to win. We always want to win. But I don’t think the consequences of the result are very important."

"I prefer to beat Wigan to Liverpool. To be first or second has no consequences, to beat Wigan is three more points to win the Premiership."

Jose then went on to explain further, by saying "We cannot play against an English team in the next stage, so Arsenal is out of our future until the quarter-final. Juventus or Bayern Munich, I don’t feel a big difference, and we don’t know who will be first or second in that group."

"Lyon first, Real Madrid second. Would you prefer to play against Real Madrid or Lyon?"

"If you are first the first game will be away from home, and if you are second the first game will be at home. I don’t see anything big in that either."

"Unless you meet a team without experience, Artmedia Bratislava for example if they qualify, if you are lucky to meet them, then maybe it can help."

Rafael Benitez, Liverpool manager, faced the press an hour later, and agreed about the importance of the match.

"It’s an important game because it’s a Champions League game, but it is not the most important game. I think about Middlesbrough, I want to have all my players fit.

"If you are a player you want to do your best and win every game. If you are a manager you want to win every game but you must think about the future. So, for instance, Xabi Alonso is not here. He wants to play, but it is important I think about the future."

Dietmar Hamann was with him and dismissed Chelsea’s 4-1 win at Anfield in our last meeting. "If you saw the game I don’t think it was one-sided. We were on top in the first-half, gave a penalty away, got back in the game with a good goal by Stevie (Gerrard), then they scored just before half-time and they got two breakaway goals in the second-half. But I don’t think it was one-sided. It was a shock to Liverpool, we hadn’t been beaten like that at home for some time.

My team prediction for last Saturday's game against Middlesbrough yielded nine out of eleven. I believe that Chelsea will start with the following team:

Cech, Ferreira, Terry, Gallas, Del Horno, Essien, Lampard, Gudjohnsen, Robben, Drogba, Duff

40 YEARS A BLUE