Advantage Chelsea as Avram Grant's team look to keep it clean at Stamford Bridge

Sam Bethell, the groundsman at the centre of last Saturday's 'racism' storm, sensibly kept his head down and so did Chelsea's players, who are within touching distance of glory.

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Avram Grant's team escaped with a 1-1 draw at Anfield in last Tuesday's semi-final first leg and there is nothing quite like the green, green grass of home.

Unbeaten in 81 games at Stamford Bridge and yet to concede a goal against Liverpool on home soil in eight attempts under Rafa Benitez. Advantage Chelsea.

Level on points with Manchester United at the top of the Barclays Premier League after their fiery 2-1 win over them and within 90 minutes of completing a remarkable journey to the Champions League Final in Moscow.

Keeping a clean sheet will be a priority tonight and keeping their noses clean is another.

Benitez set the trap when he accused Didier Drogba of cheating, claiming he has a video dossier stretching back four years and arguing that 'he goes down easily, maybe he slips'.

Benitez has a point. Drogba, remember, is a player who openly admitted that he cheated after Chelsea's win over Manchester City in March 2006.

He changed his ways when Jose Mourinho threatened to wring his neck but Liverpool's players only had to look at him last Tuesday and his legs buckled.

Grant retaliated, though, claiming Jamie Carragher should have been booked in the first leg and suspended from this game. Turf wars between the two managers.

'I will not speak about Liverpool's players,' claimed Grant before he went on to do precisely that.

'I think Rafa is trying to deflect attention from what happened in the first leg. In the first half, the referee could easily have given a yellow card to Carragher and got him banned from this match.

'If you look at the video and see what Carragher did to Drogba referee Konrad Plautz was very polite to him. He is powerful so defenders think there are other ways to stop him. I think Rafa is trying to affect the referee so that he does not do his job.'

Pressure in every pocket of Stamford Bridge then. Pressure on the Italian referee Roberto Rosetti, pressure on Liverpool to score there for the first time since 2004 and pressure on Chelsea to reach the final.

Not to mention the pressure on John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Carragher, who are one booking away from missing the final.

Chelsea are confident, that much is clear. Grant has prepared for every eventuality, practising penalties last night and preparing Petr Cech for the possibility (remember, they lost 4-1 to Liverpool on spot-kicks last year).

Cech said: 'You never speak about it but every player studies for penalties. In the end you have people who miss. It's about dealing with the pressure to take the ball and put it in the net.'

Naturally, they hope there is no need. They have lost to Liverpool twice before in the semi-final and Terry, Frank Lampard, who may play tonight, Joe Cole and Claude Makelele are survivors from the team beaten by Monaco in 2004. This is different.

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The current team have yet to concede a goal at home in the Champions League under Grant, remarkable when the 1-1 draw with Rosenborg under Mourinho is taken into account.

The trophy will be within touching distance if these players keep their cool but what of the manager? In 2001, Grant fielded an ineligible player, Walid Badir, when in charge of Maccabi Haifa and was denied a place in the Champions League. Look at him now.

He has set his sights on adding his name to the pantheon of great managers — three-times winner Bob Paisley, two-times winner Vicente del Bosque and Johan Cruyff are among that number — by leading his team to glory in next month's final in Moscow.

Grant said: 'They are all great managers and I'd be very happy to do it. The dream of everybody is the Champions League. We have come a long way and it has not been easy. Chelsea want to be a big club and the way to do that is to win the Champions League. It's important for us to create history.'

If they do, expect the players to link arms and dive en masse in front of the fans in The Shed. As long as they avoid the penalty area, they should be fine.

Meanwhile, Benitez, reflecting on how Javier Mascherano missed three games for disputing a red card at Old Trafford, has urged the FA to hand out similar bans to Rio Ferdinand, Owen Hargreaves and Patrice Evra for their part in the battle of Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck has claimed the clash between United defender Patrice Evra and groundstaff 'is not a racist issue', adding: 'As far as we are concerned it was handbags at 10 paces.'