Liverpool travel south to take on second-placed Chelsea on Sunday, kick-off at 16:00 hours (BST). Three points from this weekend’s mouth-watering clash would see the Reds leap-frog their opponents in the Premier League on goal difference. Fernando Torres goes into Sunday’s match at Stamford Bridge with the striker top of the Barclays Premier League scoring charts with eights goals in seven appearances. The forward in on-fire, having scored five goals in his last two league outings.

The Spaniard scored his first goal for Liverpool in official competition against Chelsea at Anfield in August 2007. The goal was his first on his way to becoming the most prolific goalscorer (24 goals) in a debut season in the Premier League.

In total, the forward has scored three goals in two league games against Chelsea, plus a further five goals in six games in all competitions. Amazingly the game on Sunday will be the first time the striker plays in the league at Stamford Bridge. Torres missed both the 2007/08 and 2008/09 clash through injury.

Last season Liverpool completed a league double over Chelsea with wins home and away. The meeting at London finished 1-0 to Liverpool courtesy of a deflected Xabi Alonso goal in the tenth minute. The victory ended the Blues’ impressive 86 match unbeaten run at home, a run stretching back to February 2004.

In the corresponding fixture at Anfield, Fernando Torres came of the bench to score two goals at the death, as Liverpool recorded all three points. The striker broke the deadlock with a goal on 89 minutes before making the game safe in added time.

Chelsea arrive for the match on the back of their first league defeat of the season. The side coached by Carlos Ancelotti were surprisingly beaten by Wigan 3-1 at the DW Stadium. In Europe, the Blues collected their second group win with a 1-0 scoreline in Cyprus.

Liverpool crushed Hull City 6-1 last weekend with Torres hitting three goals. The Reds impressive run though was brought to an end in Italy as the Merseysiders lost 2-0 to Fiorentina on matchday 2 of the Champions League.

Following Sunday’s match, Torres will join up with the Spanish national team on Tuesday. With a place at the 2010 World Cup already in the bag, Spain face both Armenia and Bosnia on the road in their final two World Cup qualifying matches.