One may be in west London and the other in the northwest of England, with over 200 miles separating them. But, in the last couple of decades, Liverpool and Chelsea have formed a fierce rivalry and at times tempers can flare and boil over. That has led to some cracking matches in the last 15 years or so though, many of which are still at the front of our minds, and when the fireworks start to go off, there is always so little to separate the two sides in the Premier League betting at Paddy Power.
That said, and with the Premier League giants set to clash at Stamford Bridge on January 2nd, we have delved through the archives and picked out three of our favourite controversial moments from some of the best Liverpool vs Chelsea games of the modern era. Read on to find out more!
Luis García’s ghost goal
Where better to start than with Luis García’s winning goal in the 2004-05 Champions League semi-final second leg? It is something Liverpool and Chelsea fans will still argue about 15 years down the line and we don’t think then Blues manager José Mourinho is completely over it yet either!
With the first leg ending 0-0 in London, Liverpool quickly broke the deadlock at Anfield. Steven Gerrard looped a pass into Milan Baroš, who was clattered by Petr Čech, but García got on the end of the loose ball and poked it goalward, only for William Gallas to hoof it clear. Not before it passed the line though — according to referee Lubos Michel, anyway. It proved to be decisive with Liverpool winning 1-0 and progressing to the final in Istanbul. That’s a story for another day…
Luis Suárez’s bite
Talking of fireworks, this 2013 Anfield encounter was like Guy Fawkes night. Not only was it an extremely close match, with Oscar’s first-half strike cancelled out early in the second half by a Daniel Sturridge effort — an ex-Chelsea player, of course. But, with Chelsea back in front thanks to a controversial Eden Hazard penalty, Luis Suárez took it upon himself to stick his big gnashers into Branislav Ivanović’s shoulder. The incident went unpunished by the referee and to add insult to injury, he popped up to score the 96th-minute equaliser. The FA would later ban him for 10 games!
Andy Carroll’s header
Kenny Daglish’s side didn’t have the best year in the Premier League in the 2011-12 season, finishing a rather dire eighth and below their local rivals Everton. However, they enjoyed themselves domestically, beating Cardiff City to win the League Cup and going all the way to the FA Cup final. However, they didn’t leave Wembley with silverware this time. Ramires and Didier Drogba gave the Blues a two-goal lead, but when Andy Carroll pulled one back, Roberto Di Matteo’s men were made to sweat.
The 6’4” target man was proving difficult for Chelsea’s defence to deal with and he looked to have equalised when he met Suárez’s chipped pass with his head, but Cech miraculously managed to get a hand to the effort and palm it onto the crossbar. The Liverpool end, Carroll, and perhaps even a few Chelsea players (given the delayed clearance) thought the ball had gone over the line, but it wasn’t given by the referee. Chelsea held on to win 2-1, gaining revenge for García’s ghost goal in 2005.
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There are so many more jaw-dropping moments from over the years, including Steven Gerrard’s slip, Fernando Torres’ record-breaking move from Liverpool to Chelsea, Mourinho shushing the Anfield crowd after a 3-2 victory in the League Cup that was decided in extra-time and couple more Champions League classics — like Chelsea’s 3-2 and 7-5 aggregate wins.
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