The State of Play
Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea have endured an extremely difficult campaign but they can still yet turn it into a special one with The Blues in the EFL Cup final, as well as the fifth round of the FA Cup and not too far away from the top seven and the European spots, either, in the Premier League. They most recently held the defending treble winners Manchester City to a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium.
Jurgen Klopp will be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season but the German will be keen on adding silverware to The Reds’ trophy cabinet before he leaves. They are on the hunt for four trophies with this one being the first chance. They come into this one on the back of back-to-back 4-1 victories, first against Brentford last weekend and then having to come from behind to hammer Luton in midweek.
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Team News
Chelsea remain without several key injury issues for this weekend as they are missing several first-team defenders. The likes of Benoit Badiashile, Wesley Fofana and Reece James remain unavailable for The Blues.
Liverpool have several concerns as Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez are doubtful this weekend. Curtis Jones is among those key first-teamers that are also unavailable alongside the likes of Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota.
Expected Line-ups
Chelsea: Petrovic; Gusto, Silva, Colwill, Chilwell; Fernandez, Caicedo; Madueke, Gallagher, Sterling; Palmer
Liverpool: Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Endo, Mac Allister; Salah, Darwin, Diaz
What they Said
In the aftermath of their draw with Manchester City last weekend, Mauricio Pochettino said that his team put in a ‘fantastic’ performance as they go into the final this week.
Jurgen Klopp has said that his depleted and injury ravaged Liverpool side will ‘go for it’ on Sunday afternoon, which is pretty much the only way his team knows how to play.
When and How to Watch
This match is being played at Wembley Stadium at 15:00 on Sunday February 25th and will be televised live on Sky Sports. It can also be streamed live on the Sky Go app in the UK.
Prediction
In the last few weeks, Chelsea have had some of their best results and performances of the season with back-to-back 3-1 victories away against Aston Villa and Crystal Palace being followed up by that creditable point at Manchester City. Despite that, and the fact Liverpool have so many injury concerns, it remains most likely that Liverpool will come out on top and stretch away at the top of the list for most major trophies won by English clubs.
