Benitez, Mourinho cross swords for 10th time in two years

Following the Easter Monday victory over Everton at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea now need only one more point from their remaining three matches to claim back-to-back Premiership championships.

Their next aim, however, will be to put aside Liverpool's challenge today and move closer to a League and FA Cup Double.

The two sides, who will clash at Old Trafford, will be meeting for the fifth time this season.

Chelsea have made the double on Liverpool in the league with a 4-1 win at Anfield (Lampard penalty, Duff, J. Cole, Geremi - Gerrard) and a 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge (Gallas, Crespo).

The two other clashes in the Champions League finished in 0-0 draws.

This will also be a staggering 10th duel between Jose Mourinho, of Chelsea, and Liverpool's Rafael Benitez since both arrived in England in 2004.

As happened this season, Chelsea did the double on Liverpool in 2004-05.

Although the Merseysiders lost in the League Cup final in Cardiff by the odd goal in five against Chelsea, Liverpool edged through 1-0 on aggregate in the semi-final of the Champions League on their way to a memorable victory in Istanbul.

This year, two 0-0 draws saw Liverpool finishing on top of the group in the Champions League and left Chelsea to draw the short straw - another encounter with crack side Barcelona. Both sides were eventually eliminated from the competition.

This season's clashes have also left a sore taste, with Michael Essien's wild tackle on Dietmar Hamann and Jose Reina's sending-off after some play-acting by Arjen Robben.

In the previous eight FA Cup clashes that did not produced a single draw between Chelsea and Liverpool, the Londoners have an advantage with five wins to three.

In the only other semi-final clash of 1964-65 at Villa Park, the Merseysiders won 2-0 and went on to lift the FA Cup against Leeds for the first time in their history.

In the season that followed, Chelsea gained revenge by defeating Liverpool at the first hurdle in their defence of the FA Cup with a 2-1 triumph at Anfield.

In 1985-86, Ken Dalglish's baptism campaign as player-manager, Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-1 at home in the fourth round.

Before their FA Cup final win against Everton that also sealed the Double, the Reds re-visited Stamford Bridge and won 1-0 (Dalglish) to clinch the championship.

Chelsea emerged victorious 4-2 at home in the last time they met Liverpool in 1997 and the Londoners crowned the season with a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough in the final.

The other semi-final, at Villa Park tomorrow, will feature Middlesbrough and West Ham.

An added bonus here will be the UEFA Cup place in waiting for the winners since both Chelsea and Liverpool will be involved in Champions League football next season.

Middlesbrough are currently engaged in a combat with Steaua Bucharest in the UEFA Cup semi-final.

In the first leg on Thursday in Romania, Steve McClaren's Boro were beaten 1-0. The second leg, at the Riverside Stadium, will be played on Thursday.

McClaren believes that the remarkable comeback against Basel in the quarter-final second leg at home served as a springboard for their replay 4-2 (Rochemback, Morrison, Hasselbaink, Viduka) victory over Charlton at their own backyard.

Against the Swiss side, Boro lost 0-2 in Switzerland, and at home Basel added a further goal to lead 3-0. But the Teessiders succeeded in turning the game around and win 4-3 (Viduka 2, Hasselbaink, Maccarone) on aggregate.

After these two significant triumphs, McClaren became the favourite with the bookmakers to replace England's Sven-Goran Eriksson at the end of the World Cup.

McClaren, an assistant coach to Eriksson in the England camp, said he was comfortable with the current situation and that his job was at Middlesbrough.

The attacking department at the Riverside have been in good form lately - the trio of Hasselbaink, Viduka and Aiyegbeni Yakubu have hit the 50-goal mark between them.

Charlton's Alan Curbishley (also in the running for the England job) uttered that McClaren's rotation policy had worked wonders for the Teesside club. McClaren's assistant Steve Round hinted that the pleasing thing in the team's system was the emergence of the club's academy players.

The FA Cup run is an additional benefit for Alan Pardew's West Ham after they succeeded in holding their own in the Premiership following promotion last year.

Like McClaren, Pardew has relied on his forward line for their venture in the domestic scene. Marlon Harewood, Bobby Zamora, the evergreen Teddy Sheringham and latest capture Dean Ashton have all been hitting the back of the net at a good rate.

Team captain Nigel Reo-Coker stated that it would be 'incredible' if his side had to reach the FA Cup final in their first season back in the top flight.

Pardew has his own FA Cup semi-final pedigree when he scored the winning goal in Crystal Palace's 4-3 win over Liverpool in 1990 at Villa Park.

In the Premiership this season, M'boro and West Ham first met at Upton Park, where the Hammers won 2-1 (Sheringham, Riggott og).

In the return at the Riverside Stadium, played last Monday, Boro attained a 2-0 victory (Hasselbaink, Maccarone penalty) .

Past commitments in the FA Cup resulted in a balanced affair.

In 1969-70, in the third round, Middlesbrough defeated West Ham 2-1. In 1911-12, in round two, after a 1-1 draw at Ayresome Park, the Hammers won the replay 2-1 at home.

Statistics

This will be Liverpool's 22nd semi-final and Chelsea's 16th (Arsenal lead the way with 25).

West Ham will be appearing in the last four for the seventh time and Middlesbrough for the third.

The Reds went on to reach 12 finals (Arsenal also top the heap with 17) that produced six FA Cup wins.

Chelsea have reached the final seven times, emerging victorious on three occasions.

The Hammers progressed to four finals and won the cup three times.

Boro made it to the ultimate showdown once and still have to win the coveted cup.

Manchester United top the all-time winners' list with 11 FA Cup honours.