Apr 29, 2008, 12:01 GMT
London - Chelsea will be hoping to make it third time lucky when they take on five-time champions Liverpool in the second leg of their European Champions League semi-final on Wednesday night.
Beaten by Liverpool at the same stage in 2005 and 2007, the London club has a narrow advantage after the first leg was drawn 1-1 at Anfield.
Unlike their previous two clashes, Chelsea are hoping that home advantage can spur them on to the final for the first time.
John Arne Riise's last-minute own goal in the first leg gave Chelsea a draw they did not look like achieving at Anfield and with away goals counting double, the momentum is perhaps with them as they look to erase the memories of 2005 and 207.
After losing out to what they termed Luis Garcia's 'ghost goal' in 2005 and on penalties in 2007, the late reprieve lifted Chelsea's spirits to the point where they now believe they can end their hoodoo against Liverpool.
'Yes, it was lucky,' goalkeeper Petr Cech said. 'It was an own goal, in the last seconds. But I think you can put it down to the fact that we kept going and, if you don't do that, you can't get the luck.
'To score like that was a real bonus and we realised everything had changed when the ball went in. Now we know we don't have to win at Stamford Bridge, a clean sheet will get us through.'
Michael Ballack also talked up Chelsea's chances, saying: 'When I look around at the others, I like this situation. We look fresh and better than the other teams in the Champions League now.'
Liverpool have not scored at Stamford Bridge since Rafael Benitez took charge in 2005 and with the London side still fighting for the English League title, they are narrow favourites, particularly as they can welcome back Michel Essien, who was suspended for the first leg.
Their only worry concerns the mental state of Frank Lampard, whose mother died last week, and who is not certain to play.
Liverpool are likely to go with the same starting line-up that dominated the match for long periods at Anfield, though manager Rafael Benitez could bring in Peter Crouch, as he did for the second leg of the quarter-final against Arsenal.
'Yesterday we were training and practising and thinking about ideas, but we still have another session to come,' he said. 'At the end of that I will see how they are and after that we wil start talking about the team for Chelsea.'
Chelsea did a pretty good job of keeping out Liverpool striker Fernando Torres in the first leg but the Spaniard, who has scored 30 goals in his first season at the club, is confident he can lead his side through to the final.
'I have wanted to play against guys like John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho for a long time and they did me an honour by giving me a tough time,' he said. 'Now I'm going to try to respond to them by getting a couple of goals against Chelsea.'
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is confident that his team can score at Anfield and do enough to go through to the final.
'We really feel that we are as good as Chelsea, if not better than them' Gerrard said. 'We have certainly been the better team when we have played them this season.
'We were the better team at Anfield and again in the Champions League only for both games to end in draws. Now we have got to back up a good performance with the right result.'
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