Will it be triumph or torture at the Bridge?

Whether Torres will be allowed to play is debateable. If he has any sense he'll be wearing cricket pads on the back of both legs as I expect him to get a rough ride at the hands of the Chelsea defence. John Terry in particular.

Drogba is likely to just be himself, that is unplayable one minute and going down as if under a hail of Comanche arrows the next.

There is much at stake for the victors. If Chelsea win they go top of the table. If we win, we replace Chelsea in second place and will be just one point behind Man United who we play in a few weeks.

A draw would obviously maintain the status quo at the top and would probably suit Man United as they could only draw at home to Sunderland yesterday. Another goal scored at Old Trafford in time added on by Fergie; sorry the ref (is there a difference?).

Although Alan Wiley has since drawn the ire of Sir Alex in the papers today who has described the ref as "unfit" and unable to keep up with the game. He was laughing and joking with the same official last week when he was the fourth official during the Manchester derby and Michael Owen scored the controversial winner for them. How things change.

A few weeks ago Arsene Wenger was sent to the stands at Old Trafford for kicking a water bottle during United's victory over Arsenal, yet TV pictures showed Sir Alex launching a tirade at the fourth official yesterday when United were denied a penalty. F-f-f-fergie was f-f-f-frothing at the mouth haranguing the official, yet was not asked to go f-f-f-orth to the stands. Can't really see what Wenger did was any worse to be honest so why the double standards?

Fergie also does not talk to the BBC anymore, ever since one of his sons was investigated and his activities as an agent brought into question by a BBC documentary. Likewise his mate Sam Allardyce refuses to appear in front of BBC cameras for the same reason.

Maybe Rafa should tell the Beeb to go forth and multiply after Football Focus yesterday lunch time.

Today's opponents, Chelsea, have recently received a lengthy transfer ban for alleged mis-dealings in obtaining the signature of a young player from France. Suddenly, Football Focus segued from that story to bringing Liverpool's dealings in signing Nabil El Zhar from France into question. So much so there was an instant response from the club which was read out on the show.

What is very clear is that all top clubs are searching the world for young talent. Equally, French clubs scour Africa for players, Spanish teams hunt widely in South America - Lionel Messi was only a boy when Barca brought him to Spain. Why highlight Liverpool in particular? On last weekend's Match of the Day, Gary Lineker's snide comment regarding hoping Torres had "somewhere safe" to store the match ball he'd been given for his hat-trick against Hull drew complaints to the BBC.

Personally, I think it is wrong that the BBC is financed by a compulsory licence fee to watch a TV.

Doesn't matter if you never watch BBC you have to have a licence to just watch your telly. It's absurd. What next, a licence for toasters?

The BBC ploughs this levy into the creation of extra channels like BBC 3 and 4 which from what I see generally pump out drivel. The BBC's I-player facility also hogs a huge proportion of the UK's internet bandwidth. Wouldn't mind my licence fee going to help pay for an upgrade of the network but that's not likely to happen.

Anyway, enough of kicking back at the Beeb, the only BBC I am interested in today is going one point behind United By Beating Chelsea.

At present though, I can't see it happening.

If we play like we did at Fiorentina during the week we could get a hammering. We missed Mascherano in Italy and more than a few Red's fans I spoke to wondered whether the hamstring injury was real or "political".

The Argentinian's demeanour so far this season has been somewhat hang dog. Supposedly denied a move to Barcelona in the summer he has hardly presented himself as someone relaxed and happy wearing the Red. It's been said before though, Javier has had a lot from LFC, both fans and club and needs to show some loyalty and focus to our cause again. Today would be a good game to start.

I have a feeling though that at this point both managers might settle for a draw. That wouldn't suit the C.P.F.S. (Chelsea Plastic Flag Society) or in fact the thousands of travelling Liverpool fans trekking to London on a transport-difficult Sunday and paying £47:00 for a match ticket.

Let's hope we can put in a decent performance and gain at least one point if not all three.