Chelsea v Liverpool:Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool captain, has been ruled out of tonight's League Cup quarter-final at Chelsea after being taken ill with a stomach complaint.
Gerrard's absence has been offset by the return of the midfielder Xabi Alonso, who is included in a Liverpool squad for the first time since aggravating a metatarsal fracture in October. The Spain international is being considered for a starting role despite his lack of match fitness.
Liverpool have not won at Stamford Bridge under Rafael Benitez but have beaten Chelsea in four of nine cup matches with the Spaniard at the helm. Benitez, on the shortlist for the Uefa coach of the year award announced yesterday, added that Sunday's meeting with Liverpool's owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, was "very positive" and, although the test of their peace accord will only arrive in the transfer market next summer, he claims to have resolved his differences with the Americans.
"My English isn't always the best but having the chance to talk to them slowly and with time allowed us to analyse small problems. Now we can move forward," Benitez explained.
Avram Grant will enter the transfer market for the first time as Chelsea's manager next month aiming to make his mark on a squad he inherited, though, for now, he is ready to thrust a seldom seen figure back into the fray. Michael Ballack will make his first appearance since April tonight and his manager expects more productive days ahead for the German.
Ballack injured an ankle at Newcastle some eight months ago which effectively means that, at €169,000 a week, he has cost Chelsea almost €5.6 million in wages in the interim. He has suffered several setbacks in his recovery and his club were unimpressed at his initial decision to return to Germany for treatment.
That was made on the recommendation of the German team doctor, Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt, despite Jose Mourinho urging the midfielder to delay the operation with last season's Champions League semi-finals against Liverpool in mind. The 31-year-old went under the knife regardless, notifying Chelsea's medical staff a mere hour before his operation, only to require more surgery over the summer.
Now Ballack is finally fit to resume a career in England that has rarely justified the player's lofty reputation.
Grant, however, is convinced that class will now begin to tell. "The first year in the Premier League is sometimes not easy for players," said the Israeli. "But from what I saw I didn't think that Ballack wasn't a good player last year. He made his contribution to the team. He was a top player and I think he still is. He has that desire and he might even have more than he did before because he has been out for so long.
"He's felt physically better over the last six weeks. He's a good player, he knows how to score and to make assists. I like this kind of player. He can play in many positions across that midfield and I'm sure he can do well with the other good players we have - with Frank Lampard and the others. He has so many qualities."
