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By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) – Liverpool fans could be apologized for sweating in cold sweat as the Premier League's decisive shock approached the Chelsea bogey club at Anfield.
Five years later, Liverpool hosted Chelsea with three games to play, knowing that the win would have left them six points ahead and a first league title since 1990 almost at the helm.
The rest, as they say, belongs to history.
In the talisman Steven Gerrard in the first half, Steven Gerrard has poorly controlled the pbad of Mamadou Sakho in his half field; he stumbled, allowing Demba Ba to run alone and score.
Liverpool eventually lost 2-0, lost a 3-0 lead against Crystal Palace to tie 3-3 a week later, and eventually lost the title to Manchester City by two points.
Chelsea fans will enjoy their own version of "Steven Gerrard's song" this Sunday, when their team will once again have the chance to sabotage the ambitions of the Liverpool title.
Manchester City being able to score a clear point though it was beating Crystal Palace 24 hours earlier in London, Liverpool knows that a first home win over Chelsea for seven years will bring them back to the top of the table.
If Juergen Klopp's team takes the three points of what is the toughest of his last five games, his fans will begin to sincerely believe that their long wait for the title is coming to an end.
Champions City, who have a game in hand against their rivals in the title, must still face Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in turn.
Maurizio Sarri's Chelseas have been unpredictable this season, but after Eden Hazard's stunning performance in West Ham United's 2-0 defeat on Monday, they will go to Anfield in the top four and qualify for the Champions League.
Such has been the rivalry between clubs since Luis Garcia of Liverpool scored what former Blues director Jose Mourinho called a "ghost goal" in the Champions League semifinal 2005: nothing would cheer more Chelsea fans than to win the title of the Anfield club again.
Liverpool's recent home record against Chelsea is dismal, with three losses and five draws over the last eight at Anfield, the 2014 loss being the most painful.
City suffered only its second defeat in its last 24 games, in all competitions, when it lost 1-0 to Tottenham in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday – the same night, Liverpool beat Porto 2-0 to get closer to the semi finals.
FATIGUE OF THE CITY
The Pep Guardiola team has begun to show some signs of fatigue as its pursuit of an unprecedented four-fold peaks.
They will not need to recall that Palace produced one of the most outstanding results of the season at Etihad Stadium in December, with a 3-2 win, thanks in large part to a miraculous strike from Andros Townsend.
City hopes to be able to put Bernardo Silva back in shape after his injury to Tottenham.
The fierce battle for third and fourth places also continues this weekend with fourth place, Tottenham, who relegated Huddersfield to his new stadium, having won their first two matches without conceding.
Tottenham, who should be without injured striker Harry Kane, likely for the rest of the campaign, has 64 points in 32 games, two behind Chelsea having played one game less.
Arsenal, who visit the FA Cup finalists in Watford Monday, has 63 points, while Manchester United (61) faces West Ham at Old Trafford on Saturday.
In the battle to escape relegation, the third-in-Cardiff city goes to Burnley, while Southampton, five points above them, hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers.
(Martyn Herman report, edited by Toby Davis)
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