Showdown time in Champs League

Liverpool and Chelsea will face off in the Champions League for the fifth time in the past five years. Shaun Botterill/Getty Images The Limey's Mailbag Keep the banter flowing to The Limey. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

Ordinarily, Manchester United making a trip to Craven Cottage isn't much of a story. Fulham hasn't beaten United at home in league play since 1964. But an unusually high amount of attention is focused on this weekend's encounter.

Following Man. United's shocking 4-1 home defeat to Liverpool last weekend, the usual banal expectations of a United win in west London have given way to talk of Fulham having a shot against the defending English Premier League champs and achieving their ninth home EPL win of the season.

United's players, focused on preserving their ear drums, desperately want to avoid humiliating Sir Alex Ferguson again. The Scotsman knows all too well the potentially devastating effects of a loss of form and is, for all his other successes, still haunted by the 1997-98 season in which United lost the EPL title to Arsenal despite holding a 13-point lead in March.

As a result, expect Man U's concentration to remain high the rest of the season and for the Liverpool defeat, hurtful as it was, to be consigned as an unfortunate blip en route to significant silverware, including an 18th league title.

It's a tough road ahead for Ferguson's team, to be sure: Its FA Cup semifinal against Everton and UEFA Champions League quarterfinal against FC Porto (and potential semifinal against Arsenal) are difficult fixtures. But the Red Devils are expected to progress to the final in both competitions. Meanwhile, their strength in depth and established lead should see them prevail in the EPL. Few significant obstacles remain in their away fixtures, and while Aston Villa, Manchester City and Arsenal will be tricky at home, all three games are eminently winnable.

All this must be somewhat galling for the recently revitalized Chelsea and rampant Liverpool. Despite both teams' current form, they dropped too many points earlier in the season against lesser teams to maintain a serious title challenge. Chelsea, with four wins in four games under Guus Hiddink, once more is a purring Rolls Royce of a machine, while Liverpool had its best week in years. But the end result will be a hotly contested battle for second.

Meanwhile, drawn together in the Champions League quarterfinals, both Chelsea's and Liverpool's camps will be envious of United's and Arsenal's easier matchups with FC Porto and Villarreal, respectively. Although both Chelsea and Liverpool are currently high on confidence, it was the worst of draws for them. Following the result at Old Trafford, Liverpool surely would have preferred Man. United to Chelsea, while Chelsea will be all too conscious of Liverpool's European form.

"If you are asking me about a fear factor in the Champions League," reasoned Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard to Setanta Sports this week, "then I think it is the other seven teams in the draw who are going to have concerns about coming up against us after that Real Madrid result."

Only four days before the 4-1 win at Old Trafford, Liverpool hammered Real Madrid 4-0 at Anfield, 5-0 on aggregate. Across the two legs, Liverpool showed why it's so difficult to beat in Europe. Cagey and lying deep in Madrid, the Reds proved impossible to break down prior to Yossi Benayoun's late headed winner. Two weeks later at Anfield, maximizing the fluidity of Gerrard and Fernando Torres, their attacking prowess proved too strong for Madrid's star-studded defense of Sergio Ramos, Fabio Cannavaro, Pepe and Gabriel Heinze. Madrid may feel incensed by Liverpool's dubiously awarded penalty, but had it not been for the goalkeeping heroics of Iker Casillas, it would have been routed even worse.

Goals from Michael Essien and Didier Drogba earned Chelsea a 2-2 draw in Turin against Juventus, with the Blues progressing 3-2 on aggregate. It was a less convincing result than Liverpool's, but Chelsea's excellent league form is a significant pointer to the outcome of an all-English tie.

The arrival of Hiddink has kick-started the Blues' season and renewed the potential for success on three fronts with Chelsea also facing Arsenal in an FA Cup semifinal on April 18. Hiddink's men are rejuvenated, playing with more desire and greater efficiency than under Luiz Felipe Scolari. Indeed, Hiddink's coaching methods have brought praise from several senior players, including John Terry and Frank Lampard, with the latter telling The Guardian, "The manager's made quite subtle differences. He's a clever man, he doesn't want to come in midseason and make huge differences. The players have to respond and the players are responding."