Blues' firepower can outgun Reds in bitter battle

OF all the controversy Jose Mourinho has stoked since he arrived in English football two seasons ago, perhaps the most unsporting was his contention that Liverpool were not deserving winners of last year's Champions League.

It was unnecessarily sour and even if he cited as evidence the debatable goal by Luis Garcia which knocked Chelsea out of the semi-finals of Europe's most prestigious competition 12 months ago, then it still stuck in the throats of rational football lovers.

It is one reason why there is so much spice surrounding today's FA Cup semi-final at Old Trafford, which pitches this season's Premiership champions in all but name in Chelsea against a Liverpool club whose rejuvenation continues under Rafael Benitez.

Don't expect a classic.

If we have learned anything about Mourinho and Benitez over the past two seasons, it is that they are football's deep thinkers, men not often carried away by quixotic whims where team tactics are concerned.

They prefer the cautious to the cavalier, extol virtues of industry rather than indulge players of flamboyant talent.

Look where their success is based and you will find by some distance the two meanest Premiership defences, Liverpool having conceded 22 goals and Chelsea just 20.

Much of that is down to Chelsea's John Terry and William Gallas and Liverpool's Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher.

The accent on solidity extends to the midfields, where Claude Makelele has become the benchmark for all protective holding players and where Chelsea's Frank Lampard and Liverpool's Steven Gerrard vie for the title of most influential midfielder in the Premiership.

It says much about Mourinho's mindset that even after two seasons of winning trophies but few friends, he still prefers to chase a midfield man such as Bayern Munich's Michael Ballack.

Nothing wrong with Ballack. He is strong and powerful and weighs in with his fair share of goals. Not dissimilar from Lampard if the truth be told.

But he does not possess the touch of genius which one might think Roman Abramovich's billions could attract. He is not a Riquelme or a Ronaldinho.

Yet why should Mourinho change? Two seasons in England almost certainly have provided two league titles. The Carling Cup, too, has been won. And now the famous Double beckons if he can prevail in the footballing chess match which no doubt will unfold at Old Trafford.

And here's a statistic. In the last nine matches between Chelsea and Liverpool, the men from Anfield have won just once - and that courtesy of that controversial Garcia goal in the Champions League semi-final.

All but the big one then, has gone Mourinho's way at Chelsea.

Undoubtedly, English football would be best served by a Liverpool victory, proving that Roman Abramovich's wealth can be countered, at least in a knockout competition.

The reason I take Chelsea to progress to the final at the Millennium stadium, however, lies in another statistic. The one which says that for all Chelsea's caution they have still scored 69 league goals this season, more than any other team and 20 more than Liverpool.

Neither team possesses a striker you would stake your mortgage on scoring regularly, but given Didier Drogba and Hernan Crespo against Peter Crouch and Fernando Morientes or Djibril Cisse - Robbie Fowler is cup-tied having scored a hat-trick for Manchester City in an earlier round - I would take the Chelsea pair every time.

In many ways, however, more than Mourinho v Benitez, it is the other semi-final, West Ham v Middlesbrough, which highlights the rollercoaster existence of a football manager.

It was not that long ago that West Ham fans were calling for the head of Alan Pardew.

Now, he has followed up promotion by taking the club to within 90 minutes of the FA Cup final and within sight of Europe, playing the sort of entertaining football on which West Ham have built their reputation. It is one of the most heart-warming stories of the season.

Pardew faces a man in Steve McClaren whose career two months ago looked in desperate decline but who has turned things around so swiftly that Middlesbrough could reach two finals - having held Steaua Bucharest to a 1-0 lead in the UEFA Cup semi-final first leg.

And, who knows, within the week he might even be named as Sven Goran Eriksson's successor as England manager. Could any man have had a more compelling season?

For what it's worth, however, I take Chelsea to play West Ham in an all-London FA Cup final.