A superb performance from Chelsea at Anfield sees them hit back from an early Torres strike, to score three away goals and take a firm grip on their Champions League quarter-final with Liverpool.

Here’s the notes and various musings on what tonight’s result means for us fantasy managers…

Let’s take a look at the lineups first, as there were some fairly significant moves by Hiddink in particular. Firstly Alex was preferred alongside Terry at the back, with Carvalho seemingly fit but left benched. With Terry picking up a yellow tonight, he will now miss the second leg at the Bridge, which means that Carvalho’s fitness will be vital to Hiddink. To my mind, that’s likely to see him miss out again at the weekend when Bolton come to town. Hiddink will surely start with Terry and Alex, perhaps handing Carvalho 20 minutes of pitch time without running the risk of further injury which could rule him out of the second leg.

Hiddink also chose to start with fit-again Drogba up front, leaving Anelka on the bench as Kalou and Malouda started either side of the Ivorian. That would appear to indicate that Anelka will start at home to his former club at the weekend, with Drogba perhaps spared. Elsewhere, Bosingwa failed to recover from a hamstring injury and that turned out to be a key factor with his replacement Ivanovic punishing Liverpool’s frailty at set-pieces with two headers from corner kicks. Ivanovic would seem likely to keep his starting role against Bolton, although Macienne or Belletti could come into play against Bolton if Bosingwa’s fitness is still in question and Hiddink looks to preserve tonight’s goal hero. Mikel and Deco would also seem set to figure having sat on the bench tonight.

The Liverpool lineup was predictable enough, with Lucas replacing the suspended Mascherano in midfield. Aurellio returned at left-back and I’d expect him to make way to Insua (ineligible tonight) at the weekend when Liverpool host Blackburn. Indeed, Rafa’s lineup for the forthcoming home game looks severely under threat from rotation.

Chelsea’s win undeniably gives them total control of the tie and puts the onus on Liverpool in the second leg on Tuesday. This could mean trouble for fantasy managers.

Rafa will at least take heart from Terry’s suspension for the second leg and look at the weekend’s home game with Blackburn with half a mind to rest some key players. True enough, they are chasing the title and, should they get tripped up by Blackburn, Benitez will have had a disastrous few days. However, Liverpool’s home form is reassuringly strong of late, Blackburn are, well Blackburn and we’ve seen Rafa gamble with his lineup with great effect on several occasions this term.

I’d expect the likes of Benayoun, Babel, Mascherano, Dossena, Hyypia, Agger and Insua could all play some part. It seems unlikely that Gerrard and Torres will be rested, however, it does seem very likely that, if Liverpool can get an early lead over Blackburn, both will be sacrificed as soon as possible with Tuesday in mind. We might see Gerrard and Torres get just an hour of action this weekend then. That could be a factor, particularly when considering the FPL captaincy.