They both had their noses rubbed in the mire of being sides that lacked the style, the adventure and the derring-do of United.

Today's contest between second and third at Anfield is the first heavyweight contest in the new season.

Every bookmaker in the game sits on the fence. They all have it down as a cast-iron draw, with Chelsea slightly more likely to win.

I defer. I think Rafael Benitez has for once got his team out of the blocks quicker than Jose Mourinho.

The talents at their disposal would fetch £1 billion (S$3.1 billion) on the open market, and Benitez asks us to ignore the cult of the coach and look at the talent.

I'm with him in spirit, but these two managers so palpably dislike one another that the intensity bordering on hate emanates from them.

Mourinho and Benitez wanted to sign the French winger Florent Malouda, and Chelsea's money won.

Chelsea are still haggling with Sevilla over the price for the flamboyant Brazilian right-back Daniel Alves.

Yet Liverpool, having spent £50 million in one summer, unveil a potential match-winner in Fernando Torres.

The point about all this spending is that neither the Russian at Chelski, nor the Americans at Liverpool, want to be second in the table - or second in the popularity stakes that attracts the greater income world wide.

Chelsea opened up the new season by literally playing a more open game, coming from a goal down in both EPL matches against Birmingham City and Reading.

Their powers of response won the points and made the point that keeping a clean sheet is of no consequence.

Liverpool won away at Aston Villa, and away in the extreme heat in Toulouse.

In both contests, they clearly set out to score the first goal, a change from seeing how long they could stop the opposition.

So are the Blues of London and the Reds of Liverpool on a new mission to put performance ahead of pragmatism?

We might have a clearer picture of that by tonight.

The second Sunday of a new campaign is uncommonly early for a Rafa Benitez v Jose Mourinho spat.

This is already a monumental test of players' physical and mental courage, already a guide to their priorities.

Torres is on the cusp of a new era, possibly THE great adventure of his life.

Nobody is ever sure of starting a game in the side selected by Benitez, but it will be a shock if Liverpool do not attack Chelsea with Dirk Kuyt and Torres up front.

The 50th Liverpool game for Kuyt, the very first in front of the Kop for Torres.

But how long can Torres relish it, how long will he dwell on it?

Tomorrow there is a plane to catch, to join up with the Spanish squad en route to Wednesday's international against Greece in Thessalonika.

Two days ago, Torres might have contemplated having a slightly easier home debut than to face John Terry.

But on Thursday, ahead of schedule, JT went through a whole training session, his damaged knee ligaments suffered no repercussion, and yesterday he was named as fit and ready for the Anfield job.

Bluff? Who knows?

Truth is the first casualty when Benitez and Mourinho send out their teams to 'war'.

The Portuguese and Spaniards have brought ancient territorial feuds into their sport for decades.

Jose and Rafa will never be the best of friends or the most sporting of enemies.

They have sent out Chelsea and Liverpool sides against one another 15 times in the past three years.

Mourinho has won seven of them, Benitez five, with three drawn.

But just 15 goals scored by the Blues, a meagre 11 squeezed out by the Reds, tells you how dour and bitter the conflict has been.

Mourinho's Chelsea have had the joy of twice winning what every Liverpudlian craves, the EPL title.

In the Champions League, Benitez has twice tactically throttled Chelsea.

All square? By no means.

The spending by Liverpool is an attempt to close an enormous gap on the home front.

Last season, the Anfield faithful endured the reality that their players were 21 points worse than Manchester United, and 15 points behind Chelsea.

For that reason, and that reason only, Steven Gerrard will have a painkilling injection this afternoon.

He will play for as long as possible despite the hairline fracture in his big toe.

He will, if Liverpool have any say in the matter, not be allowed to risk the toe further by playing for England against Germany on Wednesday. But Gerrard is expected to nurse his injury through performances when the next league encounter, and the next crop up.

Priorities, as laid down by Benitez.

For the millions we pay you, is the unsaid inference, it is time to lead our charge for the championship.

Gerrard, being a local man, knows the hunger on Merseyside.

Jaime Carragher, also a Scouser, has just reiterated to the England coach that he has no desire to play for his country.

Liverpool first, last and forever, is his greater commitment.

Peter Crouch, a third Englishman among the league of nations recruited by Benitez, admits he has no clue when he might get a game in attack.

His record against Chelsea is good, he gives even Big John Terry problems in the air and on the ground, but he says he has 'given up trying to guess the manager's selections'.

Honest Peter suggests what most of us suspect, that Benitez is an alchemist who mixes his brew match by match.

He usually has something up his sleeve for Chelsea, and this early season, with virtually two players for every shirt in Liverpool red, he has an even greater choice than Mourinho.

Though Mourinho pledged barely a month ago to cease his word games and try to get along more pleasantly with opposing managers, he made an exception for Benitez during the week.

The Liverpool coach, Mourinho said, was under more pressure than himself or Sir Alex Ferguson because of all the money Liverpool have spent.

'Really, we (the managers) are not important,' Benitez responded. 'We need to talk about Gerrard or Terry.'

Pressed by the media on Mourinho's remark, Benitez said: 'It is clear and simple. The two teams that are top of the money (spending) are the two teams that have been winning the Premiership.'

He paused, a glint came into his dark Latin eyes, and he concluded: 'I always say that Abramovich has done a really good job.'

Benitez is still well down on the £182 million that Mourinho has spent on Chelsea's behalf over three years.

The rivalry is personal, but it is also deeply engrained in fans who have followed Liverpool for decades. Their club have won more English league crowns than any other, including Man United, and way, way ahead of Chelsea.

But wealth has tilted that pre-eminence. Benitez took Liverpool to two Uefa Champions League finals, winning one of them. Yet he is accused of not understanding Liverpool's tradition.

That, pure and simple, requires the club to rule England. All other things are secondary. You cannot buy a Liverpudlian's admiration by finishing fourth in the EPL and bringing home the European Cup.

It is 17 years since Liverpool won the league. In those days only the champion represented the nation in Europe's tournament of champions.

There are 50 million reasons why Liverpool expect to regain the title, erasing pretenders who lately include Chelsea.

stsports@sph.com.sg