Premier League 
/ Michael Cox / 05 February 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Dirk Kuyt clashes with Ashley Cole at Anfield earlier this season
"Ancelotti will want to be on the front foot, and may well use a Drogba-Torres-Anelka combination ahead of a central midfield trio... "
One key man, but many tactical possibilities. All eyes will be on Fernando Torres' debut against his former club, but there are lots of other sub-plots to consider when predicting the course of this game, writes Michael Cox.
Chelsea and Liverpool were the two clubs most involved on the crazy final day of the transfer window, with Torres and Andy Carroll moving to their new clubs for mind-boggling sums. Both transfers may affect their new club's tactics - neither fit in seamlessly - Torres is essentially an extra striker for Chelsea, whilst Carroll may be Torres' replacement, but Kenny Dalglish also has the arrival of Luis Suarez to consider.
With Carroll absent from this game, it is Torres' position that will be of most interest. For the midweek 4-2 win over Sunderland, Carlo Ancelotti used a diamond formation with Nicolas Anelka positioned behind two strikers, Didier Drogba and Saloman Kalou. That was seen by many as Ancelotti preparing to make room for Torres (in place of Kalou), with the main focus being on Anelka's excellent performance in a deeper role. Ancelotti has favoured a 4-3-3 formation so far this season but his 'natural' shape is a diamond - he played that system for the majority of his time at Milan, and also when he first took over at Chelsea.
So, will Ancelotti go for a diamond system here, with Anelka behind the front two? Considering the success of the system at Sunderland and the fact this is a home game, it wouldn't be a surprise. With the addition of Torres, Ancelotti will want to be on the front foot, and may well use a Drogba-Torres-Anelka combination here ahead of a central midfield trio that can dominate the middle of the pitch.
The diamond's weakness is width - it requires the Chelsea full-backs to get forward to stretch the play, which Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa do well - but also is prone to the attacking intent of opposition full-backs as there is no player to confront them, summed up well by Phil Bardsley storming forward to net the opener against them in midweek.
Dalglish also experimented with a new system in midweek, playing three centre-backs in a formation that most frequently looked like a 3-4-2-1, with Steven Gerrard and Raul Meireles playing just off Dirk Kuyt. The suspicion is that he changed his system solely in order to play an additional centre-back to deal with Stoke's aerial threat (Steve Bruce did the same this weekend for his trip to the Britannia Stadium). It's unlikely to be a permanent system.
However, it might work quite well if Chelsea are planning on fielding three strikers in a narrow system - it would feature an extra centre-back to cope with Chelsea's attacking threat, and also four players in the centre of midfield to compete in that zone. It's more likely that Dalglish will turn to his first-choice formation, however, a loose 4-1-4-1 hat has plenty of midfield runners supporting the frontman.
Who that frontman is remains up for debate - Suarez scored on his debut to put himself in contention, but then Kuyt had an excellent game, holding the ball up very well. Pace is the key to playing against John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic, however, so Suarez might be the better choice, with Kuyt deployed on the left to track Ashley Cole up and down the line in his more familiar right-sided role. Suarez will be keen to upstage Torres, so backing him for first scorer at around [8.5] looks promising.
With the formations very much uncertain at this stage, it's difficult to make too many bold predictions about where the game will be won and lost, and the key battles between players. It might be worth paying attention to the corners market in relation to how much width the two sides play with - a side playing natural wingers is more likely to win corner kicks.
Finally, a lot of attention will be paid to the bookings market, particularly in relation to which Liverpool players foul Torres. It's worth considering, however, that the player who has been shown the most yellow cards in a Liverpool shirt this season is...Fernando Torres. Around [4.0] for him to be shown a card would be good value.
Recommended bets:
Suarez to score first at [8.5]
Torres to be shown a card at [4.0]
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