The 1st leg of the Champions League Semi Final between Liverpool
and Chelsea takes place tonight. These two teams are no strangers
to each other in this competition having played each other 6 times
in the past 3 seasons. They met in the Semi Finals of the
competition in 2005 and 2007.

We have previewed tonight's game and selected the standout stats
using the Head-to-Head tool (available on the website). The game is
live on ITV1, and you can follow all the Corners, Goals and
Bookings stats live minute by minute at:

www.ChampionsLeagueBet.co.uk

LIVERPOOL v CHELSEA

Kick off 7.45pm
Live on ITV1

We will look in detail at the teams' stats and the more specialist
markets for this game, but first let's have a look at tonight's
Match Result market...

Match Result

Liverpool have won 4 of their 5 home Champions League games this
season (4 home wins in a row since losing to Marseille in October).

Also, Liverpool have won both home legs in the knockout stages so
far (2-0 v Inter Milan, 4-2 v Arsenal).

Chelsea have won 2 from 5 away games this season (with 2 draws and
1 defeat).

And they haven't won away in the knockout stages yet (drew 0-0 in
Olympiacos, lost 2-1 in Fenerbahce).

The Stats Say:

• Liverpool to win @ 11/8 (2.37) with Victor Chandler (5/4 -
  2.25 - in general)

Or, the more cautious option is Liverpool 'Draw No Bet' - available
@ 8/13 with Victor Chandler, Stan James and Betdirect. This would
give you your stake back if the game is a draw.
 
Corners

If we look at the stats, Liverpool average 7.0 Corners For at home
in the Champions League this season, and just 2.4 Against.
Chelsea's stats indicate that they concede more Corners than they
win. They average 4.0 Corners For and 5.6 Against.

Liverpool have got the Most Corners in 100% of their home CL games
this season:

F-A
7-4
3-2
10-3
10-1
5-2

Chelsea:

F-A
5-3
3-10
3-6
2-5
4-4

(F-A = Corners For and Against)

Chelsea have got the Most Corners in 1 of their away games, and
have been 'out-cornered' in 3 of them (60%).

Liverpool are available at 4/6 to get the Most Corners against
Chelsea, or at 11/10 with a '-1 Corner Handicap'. That handicap
would have won in 4 of Liverpool's 5 home games so far. Backing the
home team '-1' would have paid out in 3 of Chelsea's 5 away games.

The Stats Say:

• Liverpool Most Corners @ 4/6 with Blue Square or 888 Sport

Or

• Liverpool '-1 Corner Handicap' @ 11/10 with Stan James,
  Betdirect and Betterbet (and a saver on the Handicap Tie at 13/2).  

Bookings

Liverpool have 'low' Bookings stats at home in the Champions League
this season, averaging 8.0 Bookings Points For (eg. 1 Yellow Card)
and 21.0 Against. Chelsea have 'low' Bookings stats away in the
Champions League this season, averaging 12.0 Bookings Points For
and 6.0 Against.

You can bet 'Under 50 Bookings Points' for this game or 'Under 4.5
Cards'. That would have paid out in 100% of Liverpool's home games
so far:

The same 'Under' bets would also have paid out in 4 of Chelsea's 5
away games so far (80%):

The Stats Say:

• 'Under 50 Bookings Points' @ Evens with Blue Square or 888
  Sport

Or

• 'Under 4.5 Cards' @ 6/5 with Bet365

Also...

• Have a stake saver bet on exactly '50 Points' @ 5/1 with Blue
  Square or 888 Sport. (Or alternatively bet 'Under 5 Cards' @ 1.75
  in Bet365's 'Asian Total Cards' markets instead of 'Under 4.5
  Cards'. This would void your bet and return your stake if there
  were exactly 5 cards in the game.)

Goalscorers

Liverpool have 2 of the Top 4 Scorers in the Champions League
(Gerrard and Torres).

Champions League Top Scorers this season...

Fernando Torres
 
Torres has 5 Champions League goals to his name so far.

He has scored 12 goals in his last 10 games at Anfield (all
competitions). And he's has scored in Liverpool's last 7 home games
in a row (all competitions).

Torres has 2 goals in the last 3 Champions League games - including
the home 4-2 win over Arsenal in Liverpool's last Champions League
game (Quarter Final 2nd leg).

Also, he's scored against Chelsea in the Premier League fixture at
Anfield earlier this season (1-1 draw).

Steven Gerrard
 
Liverpool's captain has scored 6 Champions League goals.

And he's scored in Liverpool's last 4 home Champions League games
(including goals against Arsenal and Inter Milan at Anfield).

The Stats Say:

The stats highlight Torres and Gerrard in the Goal Scorers market
tonight. Consider backing them both for small stakes:

·         F.Torres @ 7/4 (2.75) to Score Anytime with Paddy Power (or
13/8 - 2.62 - with Coral)

·         S.Gerrard @ 11/4 (3.75) to Score Anytime with Paddy Power,
13/5 (3.60) with Boylesports or 5/2 (3.50) with Ladbrokes

Find the Best Odds on this game at our odds comparison website:

http://odds.sportsbettingxtra.co.uk/football

________________________________________________________

That's all for today - I'll be back again tomorrow with all of
tonight's results as well as a full preview of Barcelona v
Manchester United...

Best wishes,

Matt Nesbitt
Champions League Service
www.ChampionsLeagueBet.co.uk