One up for Benitez

And so it starts. With a rare Peter Crouch goal, a typical Riise stormer and Shevchenko doing what he does best.

Signs are that it's not going to be all sunshine and fruit punch for Chelsea this season. Liverpool managed to wrestle victory even with their inspirational, and possibly career-capping captain starting on the bench and the new gawky forward line of Crouch and Bellamy very much involved.

But Ballack limping off with a hip injury could well be a blessing in disguise as many people have expressed their skepticism on Ballack and Lampard's ability to play together on a starting sheet.

And so in the end the two generals of the red and blue camp chose not to shake on it as both a blatant disregard for simple footie decency and a notion to the war that is to start next week for the EPL.

We sit back and chill on our lazy boys, awaiting for the plot to unfold.

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