An incredible match at Stamford Bridge saw Chelsea progress to the Champions League semis, despite an superb performance by a Gerrard-less Liverpool on the night.
You can get your match reports elsewhere; here’s some key points to consider from a fantasy perspective…
Lampard again flourished in Chelsea’s 4-3-3 formation to demonstrate his incredible goalscoring ability from midfield with two more strikes. He’s now scored 4 goals in 4 games, with the promise of more to come whilst Hiddink keeps him free to pour forward in support of Drogba.
Talking of Drogba, the Chelsea striker limped off late on. It’s always difficult to assess the seriousness of any Drogba knocks – however, we’ll need to monitor this one going into the Everton game on Wednesday.
Cech looked suspect on occasions tonight. He’s now conceded 9 goals in the last three games. That will be making his owners a little fidgety ahead of the tough games against Everton and at West Ham.
Chelsea will now face Barcelona over two legs, with the first leg on 28/29 April. That game will follow on from the away game at West Ham which might see Hiddink contemplate resting and rotating. Ashley Cole will be safe from such a threat given the fact that he picked up a ban tonight with is yellow card. Alex and Carvalho will likely be subject to rotation, while Essien and Drogba could also be under threat.
The second leg follows on the 5/6 May and that game follows the home game with Fulham. Again, rest and rotation could be on Hiddink’s mind for that game with the same players under threat. Much depends on the outcome of the first leg of course.
Liverpool, in contrast, will be free of rest and rotation concerns given that their cup exploits are over for another season. Gerrard, who missed out with his groin injury tonight, will likely come back into contention for the Arsenal game a week from today. He and Torres will now surely finish the season in tandem up front. Elsewhere, Aurellio and Skrtel confirmed their status as first choice at left-back and centre-back tonight and they will also be favourites to cement their spots from now until the end of the season.