Liverpool have a mountain to climb

Liverpool FC have it all to do when they visit Chelsea FC for the second leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final seeking to overturn a 3-1 deficit.

• Home advantage for the second leg proved decisive in each of the clubs' three previous UEFA Champions League knockout duels and Chelsea will be confident of ensuring the same outcome given they have never lost a European tie after taking a first-leg advantage back to Stamford Bridge.

• Liverpool may have overturned a 3-0 half-time deficit to win the 2005 UEFA Champions League final against AC Milan but their record at Chelsea does not augur well for their hopes of a comeback. They have found the Stamford Bridge net just twice in four previous visits in this competition, and only twice in 75 visits overall have they achieved a result that would earn them outright victory in this tie.

• Branislav Ivanović was Chelsea's hero at Anfield last Wednesday, his two headers (39, 62) overturning Fernando Torres's sixth-minute opener before Didier Drogba (67) added a third goal for Guus Hiddink's side.

• Not only was it Liverpool's first UEFA Champions League defeat this season but, remarkably, it was also the first time Liverpool had lost a first-leg tie at Anfield in any of UEFA's club competitions. The nearest historical precedent was an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-final against Leeds United AFC in 1970/71 when they went down 1-0 at home before a goalless second leg at Elland Road.

• Chelsea can draw further confidence from their formidable recent home record in Europe. They won all four contests in London en route to the last eight and their 16-match unbeaten sequence at Stamford Bridge, dating back to February 2006, includes 13 wins, two of which came against Liverpool.

• Rafael Benítez's men will not be daunted by that record given they ended Chelsea's run of 86 home games undefeated in the Premier League in October, thanks to a solitary Xabi Alonso goal after ten minutes.

• Liverpool can also point to some impressive recent results on their travels in the UEFA Champions League proper, with five victories and two draws from their last eight outings although the solitary defeat in that sequence came with a 3-2 extra-time loss at Chelsea in last season's semi-final second leg.

• Yet there is still no hiding the scale of Liverpool's task. To progress, they must win by three clear goals or, failing that, achieve a 3-1 advantage by full time in order to take the tie into an extra 30 minutes. Only four times in the entire history of this fixture have the Merseyside outfit managed a result that would tick either of those boxes:
Chelsea 2-5 Liverpool, English First Division, December 1989
Chelsea 0-3 Liverpool, English First Division, August 1974
Chelsea 1-3 Liverpool, English First Division, September 1963
Chelsea 1-3 Liverpool, English First Division, August 1951

• Chelsea's heaviest European home defeat was a 2-0 reverse against Beşiktaş JK in the UEFA Champions League group stage in October 2003.

• The London club surrendered a 3-1 advantage in the 1999/00 quarter-finals, losing the second leg 5-1 to FC Barcelona, but that was at the Camp Nou, not Stamford Bridge where they have successfully defended a first-leg lead five times before in UEFA club competition.

• Liverpool, for their part, have overturned a two-goal deficit only once in six previous attempts in UEFA club competition. They beat AJ Auxerre 3-0 at Anfield in the 1991/92 UEFA Cup second round to secure a 3-2 aggregate success.

• Both teams have impressive recent records at this stage of the competition: Liverpool won quarter-finals in 2005, 2007 and 2008, while Chelsea advanced in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008.

• Chelsea's overall quarter-final record is: P5 W4 L1.

• Hiddink steered Chelsea through to the last eight as 3-2 aggregate victors against Juventus (1-0 home, 2-2 away). Under former coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, last season's runners-up had earlier finished second in Group A with a record of P6 W3 D2 L1.

• The Merseyside club's overall record in European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-finals is: P12 W9 L3.

• Liverpool advanced to their 13th quarter-final in Europe's élite competition thanks to an emphatic 5-0 aggregate triumph against Spanish champions Real Madrid CF (1-0 away, 4-0 home). Benítez's charges had previously won Group D with a record of W4 D2 L0.

• The rivalry between Liverpool and Chelsea has intensified over the course of their UEFA Champions League encounters since 2005. Chelsea's 3-1 win at Anfield was the first victory for either side by more than a single goal.

• The full breakdown of results is:
2007/08 semi-final
Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea (Kuyt 43; Riise own goal 94)
Chelsea 3-2 Liverpool (Drogba 33, 115, Lampard 98 pen; Torres 64, Babel 117)
Chelsea won 4-3 on aggregate

2006/07 semi-final
Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool (J Cole 29)
Liverpool 1-0 Chelsea (Agger 22)
Liverpool won 4-1 on penalties

2005/06 group stage
Liverpool 0-0 Chelsea
Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool

2004/05 semi-final
Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool
Liverpool 1-0 Chelsea (García 4)
Liverpool won 1-0 on aggregate

• Liverpool completed a Premier League double over Chelsea this season – their first since 1989/90 – by following up their 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge in October with a 2-0 win at Anfield in February courtesy of two late Torres strikes (89, 90).

• Overall the clubs have now met 155 times. There have been 69 wins for Liverpool, 54 for Chelsea, and 32 draws.

• Chelsea have had much the better of their meetings at Stamford Bridge, recording 42 wins to Liverpool's 17, with 16 matches drawn.

• Chelsea ran out 2-0 winners in each of the clubs' two previous quarter-final match-ups – at Stamford Bridge in the English League Cup in 2007/08, and at Anfield in the FA Cup in 1931/32.

• Liverpool have won four of six previous two-legged contests against rival English sides in UEFA club competition.

• In addition to their UEFA Champions League successes against Chelsea, they beat Arsenal FC 5-3 on aggregate at this stage of last season's competition and overcame Tottenham Hotspur FC on away goals in the 1972/73 UEFA Cup semi-finals following a 2-2 aggregate draw.

• Liverpool's two defeats by domestic rivals were last season's semi-final loss to Chelsea and a 2-0 aggregate reverse against Nottingham Forest FC in the 1978/79 European Cup first round.

• Chelsea's record in two-legged ties against compatriot clubs is three wins and two defeats. Aside from their duels with Liverpool, they beat Arsenal 3-2 on aggregate in the 2003/04 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and Manchester City FC 2-0 on aggregate in the 1970/71 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi-final en route to lifting the trophy.

• Yet they lost the biggest game in their history, last season's UEFA Champions League final, against Premier League rivals Manchester United FC, going down 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

• Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt and Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou led the attack for Dutch club Feyenoord between 2004 and 2006. Kuyt scored 51 league goals and Kalou 35 over the course of their two seasons together.

• Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka spent the second half of the 2001/02 season on loan at Liverpool, scoring four goals in 20 league appearances.

• Chelsea have lost both previous penalty shoot-outs in UEFA club competition:
1-4 v Liverpool, 2006/07 UEFA Champions League semi-final
5-6 v Manchester United, 2007/08 UEFA Champions League final

• Liverpool, by contrast, have a 100 per cent winning record:
4-1 v Chelsea, 2006/07 UEFA Champions League semi-final
3-2 v Milan, 2004/05 UEFA Champions League final
4-2 v AS Roma, 1983/84 European Cup final

• The winning team will meet the victors of the FC Bayern München-Barcelona quarter-final tie in a semi-final to be played on Tuesday 28 April and Wednesday 6 May, and will have home advantage for the second leg.