Near the finish line: Rodgers looking to guide his team over final hurdle

Liverpool manager to face former boss and team in Premier League.

It will be particularly satisfying for fans and players alike if Liverpool virtually guarantee themselves the league title with a win against Jose Mourinho’s side on Sunday.

The ‘Red and Blue’ rivalry was largely limited to the Champions League during Mourinho’s first spell at the Stamford Bridge but it turned sour as controversial refereeing decisions and Mourinho’s outspoken nature dominated the games. And after lying dormant for a few years, it has rekindled.

Having been written off for most of the season, Chelsea’s visit surely represents the last hurdle that Liverpool need to overcome in their quest for their first league title in more than two decades.

Mourinho is no stranger to Rodger’s managing prowess and footballing knowledge. It was Mourinho who brought Rodgers to the Premier League in 2004 as a head youth coach at Chelsea. Mourinho, Real Madrid manager back then, was also among the first to endorse Liverpool’s decision to replace the outgoing Kenny Dalglish with Rodgers.

However, despite the history between the two men, all sentiments will be left at home when Martin Atkinson blows the whistle for Sunday’s afternoon kickoff, which takes place after Sunderland’s match with Cardiff City.

A run of 11 successive wins has seen Liverpool go from top-four hopefuls to favourites for the title and another win will equal the club record for most league wins in a row. Having been undefeated since the turn of the year, Rodgers will fancy his chances against a Chelsea side that will be short on confidence after Mourinho suffered his first ever Premier League home defeat in their last league match against Sunderland.

With one eye on the Champions League clash in midweek, Mourinho may choose to throw the towel in the league race and rest some of his key players, especially keeping in mind the injuries Petr Cech and John Terry suffered at the Vicente Calderon. However, Chelsea were the last team to have defeated Liverpool in the league and a double over their Merseyside rivals may propel them back into the title race.

Mourinho remains typically bullish and refuses to accept defeat or confirm his earlier claims of fielding a weakened team.

“You wait for Sunday, and on Sunday you will know our team,” he told reporters, before denying the notion that the match does not hold importance for his side. “We are going to try and win. That’s the simple and objective answer. Nobody goes to a game to lose.”

However, they would still need Manchester City to slip up.

Help from London

Having recently defeated Everton at Goodison Park, Crystal Palace gave the final Champions League spot back to London neighbours Arsenal. Now fellow Londoners Chelsea will be hoping that Palace do them a favour as well and defeat City in Sunday’s evening kickoff.

Tony Pulis has been the standout manager this term alongside Rodgers and a win at home against City will further his claim to the Manager of the Year title. Manuel Pellegrini is not making the mistake of underestimating his opposite number, who also bested Mourinho recently.

“Tony Pulis is doing a very good job,” he said. “Palace have been one of the best teams in the second half of the season and I congratulate him.”

The outcome of these two matches may determine whether there is still one final twist left in this season’s Premier League or not.

Meanwhile, Everton damaged their own prospects of a top-four finish and a place in next season’s Champions League when first half own-goals from Antolin Alcaraz and Seamus Coleman gifted Southampton a 2-0 victory on Saturday.

Defeat meant Roberto Martinez’s side remained a point behind fourth-placed Arsenal, having now played a game more in the Premier League this season. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2014.

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