Liverpool will face Chelsea in the final of the Carabao Cup on February 25, 8:00 PM (Pakistan time).
Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool’s manager, steps down from his position at the end of this season, with ‘stress’ being one of the major reasons for his sudden decision. This could be one of the last titles Klopp wins for the Merseyside club, but Chelsea have their own plans in mind.
Chelsea, under their new manager and ownership, want to win the first title of the latest era. Mauricio Pochettino wants to end the tag of ‘trophy-less’ attached to his name due to his days at Tottenham Hotspur.
Liverpool lifted the Carabao Cup during the 2021/22 season, but injuries might lessen the chance of securing another Cup. These two clubs met in both domestic cup finals, Carabao & FA, in 2022. Both matches ended 0-0 and Liverpool ended up lifting both trophies (through penalties).
On one side, the supporters get to see Mohammad ‘The Egyptian King’ Salah who has 24 goal involvements, in the Premier League, this season. He is averaging an involvement every 74.6 minutes.
On the other side, Chelsea’s latest buy, Cole Palmer, has set the stage on fire through his consistent performances in a not-so-performing Blues line-up. Palmer has been involved in 10 goals and 6 assists in the PL this season.
Both teams are facing injuries. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai are all facing late fitness tests ahead of the final.
Curtis Jones, Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joël Matip, and Diogo Jota are all ruled out from the fixture.
Robert Sanchez and Thiago Silva are both in contention to feature this weekend, while Marc Cucurella, Romeo Lavia, Reece James and Benoit Badiashile are unavailable for Chelsea.
It can be a goal-fest due to the multiple first-team players out injured, but if it goes to penalties, Liverpool have had the upper hand if one looks at the recent history.