WHEN Chelsea step out onto the Anfield turf this Sunday, they have a task that reaches far beyond personal glory – they must rescue English football from its most mediocre season ever.
With the prize for the Blues being the opportunity to wrestle the Premier League trophy from Sir Alex Ferguson for the first time in four years; the rest of the country is desperate for the much-hyped 'best league in Europe' to have champions worthy of the name.
Less than 12 months on from headlines (incorrectly) proclaiming last season's champions as 'the best Manchester United team ever', the Reds look a shadow of their former selves.
Seven domestic defeats include a loss to relegated Burnley, a thrashing by Fulham, and a double-defeat by Chelsea.
They were knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round by a team languishing two leagues below, and seldom looked convincing in Europe.
Realistically, United have shown that they have been crippled by the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo. Sir Alex should cop some of the flack for lumping so much pressure onto the shoulders of Wayne Rooney, at a time when England need his rationed good form for the national effort.
The other supposed challengers for the title have been little more than a joke.
Arsenal, always hyped by the press for their beautiful game and goalscoring (15 fewer goals than Chelsea in the league this season), seem to be stuck in a perpetual cycle of 'rebuilding'.
Whereas Liverpool have reverted to a mid-table side desperate to get rid of their owners, their manager, and half of their team.
Chelsea, meanwhile, are re-writing the records.
Already the highest scoring season in the club's history, they are now looking towards the Premier League all-comers record. That is presently held by United – 97 goals in 38 games back in 1999/2000; and Chelsea need just four goals from their two remaining games to equal it. Wigan, visitors to Stamford Bridge on the last day of this season, should be worried.
Last weekend they capped it off with achieving what fans are already calling the Triple Seven: taking the goals tally beyond the half-dozen in a Premier League match for the third time in a season (a unique achievement).
And then there is the statistic that belies the claim of this country's football administrators and rights-holding broadcasters that our league is Europe's toughest. How on earth can that be true when we have no teams in the last four of the Champions League?
With the stock of the Premier League falling faster than Greece's credit rating, what English football needs is a flag-bearer for the world to see. We need a team that can play with flair when desired, but shut-up shop when needed; a team that can score goals for fun from any position on the pitch; a team that is greater than the sum of its parts.
What this country needs is Chelsea as Premier League champions.
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