File photo shows ChelseaÕs Frank Lampard (c) runs with the ball past LiverpoolÕs Mali player Momo Sissoko (l) and Jack Hobbs (r) during the Carling Cup quarter-final football match on December 2007.

Liverpool and Chelsea are likely to collide at near full strength in tomorrow’s potentially explosive first leg of their Champions League semifinal.
Steven Gerrard is expected to shrug off a neck injury to feature for the hosts and, crucially, Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba all took part in training yesterday. The trio of key Chelsea players gave Avram Grant a timely boost by joining in at the club’s Cobham base and all three are expected to be included in the squad that travels to Merseyside today.
Lampard, on compassionate leave, was excused from last week’s league games and has not played since the quarterfinal second leg against Fenerbahce. He has not trained regularly in the interim, spending time instead at his mother’s bedside--she has been seriously ill with pneumonia--and had been rated extremely doubtful for the trip to Anfield.
“For me, football is very important but there are things beyond football--family matters,“ Grant told Guardian. “We’ve missed him, we’ve missed Ballack, and we’ve missed Didier. You saw what happened last year when we missed only two players; imagine what would have happened if we had played without Lampard too.“
Grant had resigned himself, publicly as least, to being without Ballack and Drogba for the first leg but their prospects now appear improved.
Liverpool, too, hope Gerrard will have recovered from the injury he suffered in training last week. The midfielder had been keen to play at Craven Cottage but was not risked, and Rafael Benitez is planning a somewhat rudimentary fitness test for his talismanic captain. “I will come up and tap him on the left shoulder and if he turns to face me without any pain we will know he can play,“ said the manager. “The other day he wanted to play but I would have had to have played him on the left wing as he could only look to the right. With the neck, you never know. It is always dangerous but he has been a little bit better. We’ll see if he can turn his head round and look the other way now.
“I don’t think we’ll have a psychological edge. They have enough experience and quality. They were in the final of the Carling Cup, they are in the semifinals of the Champions League and they are in the race for the title. So they have enough good players to win.
“I have a lot of respect for their manager because he’s being correct. He’s doing his job. But Anfield is amazing and can still be the key for us. If we can score goals and keep a clean sheet it will be fantastic. If we cannot, we know Stamford Bridge will be really difficult in the second game.“

Samuel EtoÕo

Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o has said he will leave the club and head abroad if they fail to win any trophies before the end of next season.
“If we continue not to win any trophies next year, then I will go somewhere else,“ the Cameroon striker said at a promotional event near Barcelona on Sunday, Reuters reported.
“I’ve done it all in Spain, I’ve reached the heights here and so if I do leave I will go to another league.“
Eto’o made the declarations the day after his side’s 0-0 draw at home to city rivals Espanyol effectively ended their already slim hopes of winning the league title.
They are due to take on Manchester United in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old, who joined Barcelona from Real Mallorca in 2004, said his side still held out hope they could end the season on a high by reaching the Champions League final.
“They are a step above us, but let’s see what happens on Wednesday,“ he said. “For me it is a big motivation that they are being classed as the favorites--that makes me even more keen to beat them.“

Serena Williams captured the Family Circle Cup title in Charleston, South Carolina on Sunday, defeating Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 for her first clay court title since the 2002 French Open.
Williams’ third title of the year was expected to lift her to No. 6 in the rankings. She won earlier in Bangalore and Miami. She is 19-1 in matches this year after winning her 31st career title on the green clay here on a breezy, overcast afternoon, AP reported.
“I feel like I have some momentum behind me and I just want to keep going,“ said the fifth-seeded Williams, who won $197,000 and a crystal cup at the $1.3 million tournament. “I definitely look at everyone as my clay court competition.“
Unlike earlier matches at the Family Circle, Williams started strong, winning the first set and scattering 10 aces during the match.
“I just wanted to get that first set under my belt, and thank God I did because I lost the second,“ said Williams, who anticipated long day against the ninth-seeded Russian. “I’ve played her a few times, so I really know her game and she’s a real fighter and she never stops.“
Williams improved to 5-1 against Zvonareva, who should rise to No. 14 in the rankings by making the finals.

Francesco Totti

Francesco Totti, captain of AS Roma underwent a knee operation on Sunday to repair damage sustained during Saturday’s disappointing 1-1 home draw against lowly Livorno.
Totti’s season had already been declared as over after he suffered the injury, which saw him limp off during the first half on Saturday, and he is now expected to be out for four months, meaning he faces a race against time to be fit for the start of next season, AFP wrote.
“After examining the player, Professor Pierpaolo Mariani, Totti’s surgeon confirmed the primary diagnosis: that he has partially ruptured his cruciate knee ligament,“ said Roma club doctor Mario Brozzi in a statement.
“Roma have already had to deal with this kind of injury and we believe that four months is enough recovery time.“
The 31-year-old Totti had vowed earlier in the day that he would come back stronger than ever. He also explained how he felt in the moment he was injured. “I was a little scared because I heard a crack. Even so, I’ve had worse happen to me,“ he said on Sunday morning.