Liverpool at Chelsea: Hopefully the Mad Tinkerer will return?

The Reserves had a friendly with Tottenham yesterday, that they won 2-1 behind goals from David Martin and Craig Lindfield. More importantly, any player featured in that match will probably not get the call at Stamford Bridge tomorrow. That means sadly there'll be no chance of getting to see Emiliano Insua, Jay Spearing, Ray Putterill, or Krisztián Németh, among others, but neither Nabil El Zhar, Jack Hobbs, nor Sebastián Leto played, so they may feature.

I'm really hoping Rafa goes bonkers on his selection tomorrow. With Steven Gerrard apparently unavailable due to a stomach bug and our next match being Saturday, we've got nothing to lose anyhow. It is only the League Cup after all. If Gerrard was available, we may have put out a strong side, but without him, there's little point. Might as well rest Torres too.

The good news is, Xabi Alonso will be available, and I fully expect him to start. Unfortunately, due to lack of depth at centre back with Agger still not able to go, Carra will probably have to play the full ninety. Maybe Agger will be ready for Portsmouth, it would be just in the nick of time, but still, we can't risk old man Hyppiä.

In goal, we'll probably see Reina start. Itandje was brought in for matches like these, but it's Chelsea and though I don't mind if we lose, I certainly don't want to be embarrassed. Lining up in front of him, I see Aurelio on the left, Hobbs and Carra in the middle, and Finnan on the right. Who knows? We may see Arbeloa paired with Hobbs in the middle, but that would pretty risky, even for Rafa.

In midfield, I think we'll see Babel on the left. No need to wear out Kewell. In the middle, I like Sissoko and Xabi with Lucas on the right. I think it's time we let the Brazilian loose and see what he can do. Up front, Crouch and Voronin look to get the call.

Now if Carra doesn't start, it'll be interesting to see who gets the armband. The obvious choice is Xabi, but Finnan is just as deserving.

My final guess:
Reina
Aurelio
Hobbs
Carra
Finnan
Babel
Sissoko
Xabi
Lucas
Crouch
Voronin

Bench:
Itandje
Arbeloa
Torres
El Zhar
Leto

If Sissoko doesn't play tomorrow, he's definitely gone in January, but his fate is probably already sealed nonetheless. Babel and Xabi are obviously the most creative players on our side, so I hope they enjoy themselves. I think putting Lucas on the right would be a great idea just to see what he can do. Here's Crouchy's chance to prove he's worth a spot on our squad, if he can carry us to victory, he's more than deserving of it.

Never the less, I don't like our chances tomorrow unless Grant starts a similar side to ours. Cheers and godspeed.