No real shock that the Reds drew a quarterfinal match at the Bridge. It was nearly a forgone conclusion.

By the time this match rolls around, Liverpool will have rebounded in CL to qualify for the knock-out stages, climbed back into contention for the league title with 5 straight victories, and drawn Grimsby Town in the FA Cup to all but ensure passage to the 5th round.

Therefore, Rafa will be able to trot out the reserves for this fixture.

Isn't that what they thought when they played our schoolboys last season?

Vicky

yes vicky, baptista looks like a schoolboy..

what's he? 14 , 15?

Chelsea 2-0 Liverpool

Chelsea booked a place in the Carling Cup semi-finals by beating a Liverpool side who had Peter Crouch red-carded.

Both sides had missed gilt-edged chances in a tight first half with Chelsea's Frank Lampard and Liverpool's Lucas Leiva having shots saved.

But Lampard atoned for his error when his strike was deflected in off Jamie Carragher before Crouch saw red for a reckless tackle on Mikel John-Obi.

Andriy Shevchenko lashed in an angled shot to secure Chelsea's win.

The match had started off like most between these two in recent times as both sides quickly closed each other down with space and time at a premium.

Liverpool's strategy saw them sit back and challenge Chelsea to find a way through, while hoping to catch their rivals on the counter-attack.

They survived a scare when keeper Charles Itandje pushed a Salomon Kalou shot wide before almost succeeding with a goal on the break.

Ryan Babel surged towards Chelsea's goal but took much time to pick out a team-mate and his pull-back blocked.

But there were signs of the match having more of an attacking edge as the first half progressed and Lampard should have put the home side ahead after 25 minutes.

Lampard was inadvertently put clean through on the Reds goal by Alvaro Arbeloa and seemed set to score only for Itandje to stand tall and block his shot as he tried to dink it in.

Almost immediately, a one-touch passing move on the edge of the Chelsea box gave Lucas Leiva a clean sight of goal and his angled shot was well saved by keeper Petr Cech.

The game quickly reverted to type and the rest of the opening half was a cagey affair with just a Michael Essien strike, which flashed wide, a rare threat on goal.

Essien again went close after the break when a similarly sweetly-struck effort was palmed round the post by Itandje.

Cech came to his side's rescue at the other end after Ricardo Carvalho's tame back header let in Peter Crouch.

The Reds striker tried to chip Cech but the keeper managed to get enough of a touch to stop the ball going in and allow his backtracking defenders to clear.

It proved a vital miss as Andriy Shevchenko slipped Lampard in on goal and his shot was deflected in off Carragher.

The Reds suffered another setback before they could regroup as Crouch was sent-off for a reckless challenge on Mikel.

Liverpool carried little threat with 10 men as Chelsea comfortably closed out the game and Shevchenko sealed the win with his late goal.