LIVERPOOL continue their quest for the much-talked-about Quadruple when they clash with Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley today.
The League Cup is already in the trophy cabinet at Anfield and a date beckons with Real Madrid in the Champions League final in a fortnight, while Man City travel to West Ham for their penultimate game of the Premier League season tomorrow.
They lead the Reds by three points – both having played 36 matches.
The odds-makers have made Liverpool the favourites to win today, which would give them an eighth FA Cup, while Chelsea are chasing a ninth title.
Liverpool’s support comes on the back of an outstanding season of consistency, built on a hugely structured and cohesive work ethic, and peppered by more than a handful of flamboyant individual performances.
Mo Salah may have picked up key accolades, like the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) Footballer of the Year award earlier this month, but he too will know that the new heights they reached and standards set this term will not have been possible without a collective spirit – the over-riding factor that has brought them this far on four fronts.
Yet, Liverpool have nothing to show for all their labour and sweat this season, barring the League Cup they won in February, when they beat Chelsea at today’s venue.
Exacting a measure of revenge should be the obvious driving force behind Thomas Tuchel’s plot to thwart Jurgen Klopp’s advances – and who would blame him after their defeat in the epic 11-10 penalty shootout.
Both sides “warmed-up” for the final with midweek wins in the Premiership.
Liverpool came through with a narrow and hard-fought victory over Aston Villa, which kept their bid for the league title alive, while Chelsea heightened Leeds United’s struggles to stay in the top-flight with a comfortable triumph at Elland Road Stadium.
Chelsea should find added inspiration in trying to avoid becoming the first club to lose three successive FA Cup finals since the tournament’s inception in the 1871-72 season.
They lost to Leicester City last season and Arsenal, the year before that.Sadio Mane’s shift in midweek, which was illuminated by the decisive strike with just a quarter of the game to go and his overall contribution to Liverpool’s campaign this season and the three or so prior to it, should have him marked as one with a target on his back.
The same should apply to Salah, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz – the inspirational Colombian seeking a second trophy in England in less than four months, following his arrival from Porto at the end of January.
Chelsea’s preparations will not have been helped by talk surrounding the £4.25bil sale of the club to American billionaire Todd Boehly and defender Antonio Rudiger’s impending move to Spanish giants Real Madrid on a free transfer in the off-season.
Still, Cup finals often have a way of discarding all the hype in the build-ups and this may just be one of those.
Indeed, for all we know, there may be no more talk of a Quadruple after today.