Benitez hopes to get the blues

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Liverpool are 11 points behind their third-placed opponents with a game in hand, but the Reds boss will not concede just yet that his injury-hit side cannot overhaul them.

He said: "This game will be the key to whether we can catch Chelsea. We will see afterwards. For us it is the test."

Benitez concedes the build-up for the clash is much more low-key than his previous sparring sessions with Chelsea's former boss Jose Mourinho.

He said: "Everyone does things differently, but the game will be no less difficult because they still have fine players."

This will be the 18th time Liverpool have met Chelsea in Benitez's three years at Anfield, and he said of the new regime at Stamford Bridge: "I am not surprised that Avram Grant has done well.

"Chelsea were a good team and they are still a good team that has spent a lot of money in the transfer window. If you do that, it is normal that you stay at the top of the table. The key always is the quality of players.

"I know we have not won at Stamford Bridge in recent seasons, but nobody is winning there so it is not just for us that it is difficult, it is difficult for everyone who goes there.

"When you play a team like Chelsea a lot of times like this, it means that you are playing for big trophies, for us two Champions League semi-finals, a Carling Cup final.

"So I am very pleased we have met them so many times, it shows we are playing for the best trophies and in the biggest games."