ROBBIE KEANE knows a thing or two about ruining Chelsea’s hopes of winning some silverware.
Twice already this year, the Republic of Ireland international has played a significant role in ensuring the efforts of the Stamford Bridge outfit went without any tangible reward.
Keane was part of the Tottenham Hotspur side that surprised their London rivals with a 2-1 victory in the Carling Cup final at Wembley in March.
Then, barely four weeks later, the striker was on hand to net a late equaliser in a remarkable 4-4 draw that went a long way to ensuring Chelsea’s championship chase of Manchester United ultimately fell short.
Keane will be looking to lodge another sizeable spanner in the works when he returns to the capital tomorrow afternoon.
But this time the Liverpool forward hopes victory will be of title-winning benefit to his own team as Rafael Benitez’s side aim to extend their unbeaten start to the season and claim only a second league win at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League era.
“My last game against Chelsea was the 4-4 draw,” says Keane. “Goals galore, it was phenomenal. It was attack versus attack and a great game to be involved in. I am sure it will go down in history as one of the great games in the Premier League.
“It was just great entertainment, great excitement. It was a bit like a schoolboy game in some ways because it just seemed like both teams were just attacking all the time. Probably wasn’t the best for defending, but for the neutrals it was a good game.
“I remember there was a long ball played forward and it came off someone’s back and luckily enough I was there. I connected with it and it went in the top corner.
“I think there were two minutes left. We could have actually nicked at right at the end – Berbatov had a chance with the last kick.
“Obviously it was a game Chelsea needed to win at the time and the result was a disappointment for them.
“It will be tough on Sunday. They are doing well and haven’t been beaten for so long at home, but the way I look it at records are there to be broken.
“We are doing well too. We have to confident we can go there and get a result.”
Keane is confident of recovering from the minor groin niggle that forced him off shortly after half-time of Liverpool’s 1-1 Champions League draw at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.
The striker had given the visitors an early lead with his only second goal since a near £20million move from White Hart Lane in July.
Keane is still waiting to open his domestic account, and he says: “You don’t just settle into a club straight away. Sometimes it can take a bit of time to settle down. But I feel part of things here, I am happy and I just want to help us be successful.
“I tweaked my groin a bit in the first 20 minutes, but it was more of a precaution than anything else. Hopefully I will be okay.”
With Fernando Torres injured, Keane will be asked to lead the line as Liverpool attempt to end the most formidable home record in English football history.
Chelsea have not lost in their last 86 games at Stamford Bridge, a record that extends back to February 2004.
And Keane admits: “You know that there are no easy games in this league but this one is probably as tough as they come when you look at their home record over the last few seasons.
“We’ve just had a decent result away from home in the Champions League and we’ve got a couple of days in between to rest and train so we should go there in decent shape.
“Chelsea is a massive, massive game for us and Liverpool have done okay against them in the last couple of years so I’m sure we will go there believing that we can get a good result.
“Everyone knows that Chelsea haven’t been beaten at home for so long but records are there to be broken and our job is to make sure we give ourselves the best possible chance of doing just that.
“We know it won’t be easy and Chelsea have made a good start to the season themselves but that doesn’t mean we will be intimidated by them or anything like that.
“I think you have to be confident that you can go there and win because you can’t be going into games not confident or not believing that you can get a good result.
“Chelsea’s record is great, they have a great squad of players and we definitely respect that but if you are not confident going into a game like this one you’ve got no chance.”
Of Liverpool’s six Premier League wins, four have come after having fallen behind but Keane accepts Benitez’s side cannot afford to be so charitable tomorrow.
“We’ve certainly made hard work of our last couple of games and we definitely can’t keep doing that,” he says. “Last weekend we managed to get another good win after going behind.
“When you’re playing at home you expect to take the initiative and to take the game to them but you have to give Wigan credit because they played well and made things hard for us.
“But we ended up getting the win and we can take a lot of heart from that because it shows how much character there is in the side and how much we want to win games.
“But the more often you do that the more chance there is that you will come unstuck because games won’t always go your way after going behind.”
Twice already this year, the Republic of Ireland international has played a significant role in ensuring the efforts of the Stamford Bridge outfit went without any tangible reward.
Keane was part of the Tottenham Hotspur side that surprised their London rivals with a 2-1 victory in the Carling Cup final at Wembley in March.
Then, barely four weeks later, the striker was on hand to net a late equaliser in a remarkable 4-4 draw that went a long way to ensuring Chelsea’s championship chase of Manchester United ultimately fell short.
Keane will be looking to lodge another sizeable spanner in the works when he returns to the capital tomorrow afternoon.
But this time the Liverpool forward hopes victory will be of title-winning benefit to his own team as Rafael Benitez’s side aim to extend their unbeaten start to the season and claim only a second league win at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League era.
“My last game against Chelsea was the 4-4 draw,” says Keane. “Goals galore, it was phenomenal. It was attack versus attack and a great game to be involved in. I am sure it will go down in history as one of the great games in the Premier League.
“It was just great entertainment, great excitement. It was a bit like a schoolboy game in some ways because it just seemed like both teams were just attacking all the time. Probably wasn’t the best for defending, but for the neutrals it was a good game.
“I remember there was a long ball played forward and it came off someone’s back and luckily enough I was there. I connected with it and it went in the top corner.
“I think there were two minutes left. We could have actually nicked at right at the end – Berbatov had a chance with the last kick.
“Obviously it was a game Chelsea needed to win at the time and the result was a disappointment for them.
“It will be tough on Sunday. They are doing well and haven’t been beaten for so long at home, but the way I look it at records are there to be broken.
“We are doing well too. We have to confident we can go there and get a result.”
Keane is confident of recovering from the minor groin niggle that forced him off shortly after half-time of Liverpool’s 1-1 Champions League draw at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.
The striker had given the visitors an early lead with his only second goal since a near £20million move from White Hart Lane in July.
Keane is still waiting to open his domestic account, and he says: “You don’t just settle into a club straight away. Sometimes it can take a bit of time to settle down. But I feel part of things here, I am happy and I just want to help us be successful.
“I tweaked my groin a bit in the first 20 minutes, but it was more of a precaution than anything else. Hopefully I will be okay.”
With Fernando Torres injured, Keane will be asked to lead the line as Liverpool attempt to end the most formidable home record in English football history.
Chelsea have not lost in their last 86 games at Stamford Bridge, a record that extends back to February 2004.
And Keane admits: “You know that there are no easy games in this league but this one is probably as tough as they come when you look at their home record over the last few seasons.
“We’ve just had a decent result away from home in the Champions League and we’ve got a couple of days in between to rest and train so we should go there in decent shape.
“Chelsea is a massive, massive game for us and Liverpool have done okay against them in the last couple of years so I’m sure we will go there believing that we can get a good result.
“Everyone knows that Chelsea haven’t been beaten at home for so long but records are there to be broken and our job is to make sure we give ourselves the best possible chance of doing just that.
“We know it won’t be easy and Chelsea have made a good start to the season themselves but that doesn’t mean we will be intimidated by them or anything like that.
“I think you have to be confident that you can go there and win because you can’t be going into games not confident or not believing that you can get a good result.
“Chelsea’s record is great, they have a great squad of players and we definitely respect that but if you are not confident going into a game like this one you’ve got no chance.”
Of Liverpool’s six Premier League wins, four have come after having fallen behind but Keane accepts Benitez’s side cannot afford to be so charitable tomorrow.
“We’ve certainly made hard work of our last couple of games and we definitely can’t keep doing that,” he says. “Last weekend we managed to get another good win after going behind.
“When you’re playing at home you expect to take the initiative and to take the game to them but you have to give Wigan credit because they played well and made things hard for us.
“But we ended up getting the win and we can take a lot of heart from that because it shows how much character there is in the side and how much we want to win games.
“But the more often you do that the more chance there is that you will come unstuck because games won’t always go your way after going behind.”
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