Capital One Cup: Three staples of Liverpool v Chelsea

Willian scored in Chelsea's memorable 2-0 win at Anfield last year

Michael Lintorn has identified three things that almost always happen when Liverpool face Chelsea...

Every season of Jose Mourinho's first reign at Chelsea featured a semi-final against Liverpool, so though this is the first cup tie between the sides in three campaigns, it feels very familiar.

When teams collide as often as these two do - this is their 36th meeting in the past ten years - it is inevitable that certain recurring themes develop. Here are a few that we have spotted...

Everything ends up being even

Liverpool have welcomed Chelsea to Anfield on ten occasions since the start of the 2007/08 season and eight of those encounters finished with an even number of goals. There were two 1-1 draws, two 2-0 wins for the Reds, two 2-0 wins for the Blues, a 3-1 away success and a 2-2 draw.

One of the exceptions - a 4-1 Liverpool triumph in May 2012 - can be written off as an anomaly because it took place three days after an FA Cup final between the clubs, with the Londoners using it as an opportunity to give the likes of Ross Turnbull, Paulo Ferreira and Oriol Romeu a runout.

Recommended Bet: Back there to be an even number of goals @ 1.9520/21

There has been a significant upgrade in entertainment

Ex-Real Madrid employee Jorge Valdano upset a few people when comparing Liverpool v Chelsea to "s*** hanging from a stick" in 2007, but there was plenty of evidence from January 2004 to February 2011 to back up his opinion, with both teams scoring in a mere nine of their 29 clashes.

The landscape has changed post-Rafael Benitez, with both sides striking in six of their most recent seven showdowns, including two of the three since Mourinho returned, perhaps hinting that he wasn't quite as culpable as the Spaniard for the prior state of stalemate.

Recommended Bet: Back both teams to score @ 1.865/6

Those who forget the kick-off time get punished

One of the focuses of this fixture's rebrand from continual disappointment to a highlight of the Premier League calendar has been on high-energy starts. The opener in five of their past seven jousts arrived within 20 minutes, and there hasn't been a goalless first half in that period.

Almost all of Chelsea's away games against Premier League adversaries this term have witnessed early goals: there have been two in the very first minute, one in the second, one in the sixth and one in the ninth, while others came in the 14th, 17th and 18th minutes. The only trips that didn't deliver a goal in the first 20 minutes were those to Manchester and the north east.

Recommended Bets:
Back the first goal to be scored in 0-10 minutes @ 5.59/2
Back the first goal to be scored in 11-20 minutes @ 6.25/1