posted April 24, 2008 at 14:14 in Soccer Props

After yesterday’s awful debacle deep into added time, when a headed own goal by Liverpool substitute player, John Arne Riise, beat Liverpool keeper Reina, rescuing the match for Chelsea, the resulting 1-1 draw caused a serious shift in Champions League Soccer Futures, but not in the direction pundits expected before the start of the first leg between Liverpool vs. Chelsea. BetUS Sportsbook opened Futures betting on the semi-final matchup between the all-Premiership side with Liverpool and Chelsea tipped at -115 to advance into the Champions League final. In their fourth consecutive Championship League meeting and third shot in the last four seasons to determine one of the finalists, history pointed to Liverpool as the more successful side of this all-Premiership matchup in Europe’s prestigious competition. But, thanks to Riise’s header giving the visitors the all important “away” goal, the soccer line moved in favour of Chelsea – from (-115) to (-275). So the question for soccer betting enthusiasts looking to bet on this matchup in the final four is whether to take Liverpool, in spite of their recent demotion to underdog odds at +190 or will taking the suddenly favoured Chelsea side at elevated odds of -275 be the better play. Despite the move made by the odds makers on the soccer line, this tie is by no means decided. Make no mistake about that.

Soccer Futures:

Liverpool To Qualify for Final +190

Chelsea To Qualify for Final -275

First, before deciding which team to take, let us shed some light on the knockout phase of the Champions League. This will be particularly useful for those of you that are novice soccer bettors. During the two legs of the knockout phase, where clubs play two matches against each other on a home and away basis, the rule is that the club with the greater amount of aggregate of goals qualifies for the next round. Now in the event both teams score the same number of goals, the team that scores more goals away qualifies.

So with the score line delicately poised at 1-1 after the first leg, there are many scenarios’ the second leg of this matchup can play to. At first glance, Chelsea profits twofold: The generous gifting of an “away” goal at Anfield Stadium and the second leg match a home affair at Stamford Bridge – it would appear Chelsea takes a major step towards reaching the Champions League final. The odds makers reflect this perception with the appropriate move on the money line in favour of Chelsea.

Another peek and other possible scenarios present themselves, where, in a tit-for-tat, a reversal of luck would see Liverpool emerge the victor. Scoring goals at home is easier than scoring goals away to be sure, but if Liverpool beats Chelsea on their own patch, and compounds the victory by scoring enough goals to win on aggregate then they will be on the ones on the road to Moscow.

So to return to the all-important soccer-betting question and provide bettors with an answer, before the second leg gets underway next week, here are a few factors to consider.

Betting Verdict: What was glaringly obvious in the first leg was Chelsea’s inability to score. Heck- they needed an own goal to give them a leg up. Chelsea’s set piece, with Henry stepping up to take the kick, was perhaps their best shot at an equalizer, but Reina denied them when he neatly picked the ball out of the air.

Liverpool is the most successful English Club in UEFA competition history, winning the coveted silverware five times, the most recent championship victory was in 2004/05 and last season 2006/07 they finished runner-up. While, an illustrious history in this competition does not entitle them to a berth in the final, their experience at this level will go a long way. Coach Rafa Benitez is widely held a master tactician – Riise’s header aside, we can relegate that to a small detail—if there were a Coach that can lead his team to victory, Benitez is the man. Finally, Liverpool will arrive in Stamford Bridge with the duopoly of Stephen Gerrard and Fernando Torres. While Gerrard has played in Stamford Bridge before, Torres is making his maiden voyage to Chelsea’s patch with Liverpool.

Soccer Futures Free Picks: Take Liverpool at +190 underdog odds

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Nila Amerova is a freelance sports writer and regular contributor to the BetUS.com Locker Room.