Nicol likes Liverpool more than a wee bit

Steve Nicol has been refreshingly objective and pragmatic when analyzing the Revolution in his six seasons as head coach. And those qualities should be an asset as he is featured on the ESPN pregame show for the Champions League final between Liverpool FC and AC Milan tomorrow.

Nicol played for Liverpool from 1981-95; he was a starter in some of the club's most memorable seasons, and was part of some of the most glorious and tragic situations in sporting history. He admits his preference for Liverpool, a.k.a. the Reds.

"I will look at the game as far as how the two teams play against each other, how they both match up, just like I would with my own team," Nicol said yesterday. "The other night, we were poor [in a 1-0 win over Houston] and I said that. If Liverpool plays great, I'll be the first to say it, and if they play poorly, I'll be the first to say that. As much as I'll be cheering for the Red team."

Nicol will join J.P. Dellacamera, Cambridge's Seamus Malin, and former Revolution and US national team forward Eric Wynalda on the broadcast. Former Revolution announcer Derek Rae will do the play-by-play, assisted by Tommy Smyth and former Revolution defender Janusz Michallik, for the game at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.

Nicol favors Liverpool in the matchup, despite a weakness on the left side of the field, as Harry Kewell could become a starter in place of the injured Boudewijn Zenden on the left wing.

"I don't think they have a settled left side of field," Nicol said. "But I think they can shut down that side of the field defensively and use [Stephen] Gerrard on the right. You always try and exploit where the other team is weak and, at present, that is down the left-hand side, as an attacking force."

Controlling interest in Liverpool was recently purchased by George Gillett (Montreal Canadiens) and Tom Hicks (Dallas Stars, Texas Rangers). The president of Milan, which has nine players who were members of World Cup-winning teams with Brazil (2002) and Italy (2006), is former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

"Milan's strengths are Kaka and [Clarence] Seedorf coming forward late, [Andrea] Pirlo as far as possessing the ball," Nicol said. "Milan passes the ball well, but the problem for me is, if they are not on their game, if they are not passing the ball, you wonder how they will win the game.

"Liverpool can squeeze the game and shut it down, plus they can pass the ball and nobody is giving them credit for that; and if they want to make it a physical game, they can do that.

"If it's a pure soccer game, Milan is the favorite, anything other than that, Liverpool."

Liverpool rallied from a three-goal halftime deficit to tie the score and defeat Milan on penalty kicks in the 2005 final in Istanbul.

"In that game, you saw everything -- soccer, passion, strength, exciting goals," Nicol said. "That's why it draws everyone in. Everyone wants to see something different, and in this game, people who are looking for a particular thing think you will see it."

The Revolution will take a nine-match home unbeaten streak over two seasons (7-0-2) and a seven-match unbeaten streak this year into Saturday's game against Kansas City. They are 5-1-2 (17 points), first in the MLS standings, and close to the pace of their 2005 start, when they went 7-0-4 and did not lose in the first two months of the season.

But the accomplishments this year are in a way more impressive than two years ago, when six of the first 10 games were at home and the schedule included a mid-April bye week. This season, the Revolution have played only twice at Gillette Stadium.

In '05, several Revolution players were called in to the national team, and the World Cup campaign left a lasting physical effect on Pat Noonan and Steve Ralston, who did not make the final roster in '06 because of injuries.

Taylor Twellman, who leads MLS with six goals, is the likeliest Revolution callup, but Nicol said he did not know whether Twellman would go for the Gold Cup (June 6-24) or Copa America (June 26-July 15).

Boston seemed to be a second home for the Republic of Ireland national team a few years ago. The Irish attracted crowds as large as 51,273 (for a 1-1 tie with the US June 1, 1991) as enthusiasm remained high following Euro '88 and 1990 World Cup performances. They also drew 16,319 for another 1-1 tie with the US June 6, 2000, despite a driving rainstorm at Foxboro Stadium.

But spectators are not expected to arrive in great numbers for the Ireland-Bolivia friendly at 4 p.m. Saturday at Gillette Stadium. Ireland manager Steve Staunton is preparing to continue the Euro 2008 campaign but has named a mostly B team roster for matches against Ecuador tomorrow at Giants Stadium and for Saturday, in part because players are unavailable so soon after the English league season. Among the featured players are midfielder Stephen Ireland of Manchester City and John O'Shea of Manchester United.

Bolivia, preparing for Copa America, will have D.C. United's Jaime Moreno, who last played for the national team in 2002.

Former Revolution midfielder Carlos Semedo nearly had a chance to coach against his former team in the US Open Cup. Semedo guided Emigrantes das Ilhas to the semifinals of the Region 1 qualifying before the team was eliminated by Danbury United on penalty kicks Sunday at Rocky Marciano Stadium in Brockton. Carlos Valdir Fernandes gave Emigrantes the lead in extra time but the Connecticut club tied the score on a penalty kick and took a 6-5 victory on penalties. Danbury United advanced to the final 40 bracket of the US Open Cup; the Revolution have been seeded into the round of 16, based on their finish in last year's MLS standings.

Frank Dell'Apa can be reached at f_dellapa@globe.com.