Another trip to Wembley, another date with Chelsea.
Liverpool’s showpiece meetings with their west London rivals have been a feature of the last 20 years but Sunday’s latest instalment has more significance than most.
It could see Liverpool complete the first leg of a quadruple of trophies or be the last time Jurgen Klopp leads his side out at the national stadium, with his departure from Anfield looming ever closer.
But where could the game be decided and what does the rivalry with Chelsea mean now? Our experts have their say.
Does this League Cup final feel bigger than others?
James Pearce: The fact that Klopp is leaving at the end of the season certainly gives it an extra edge. With Liverpool still competing on four fronts, the expectation is that this won’t be the last showpiece final of the Klopp era but there are no guarantees. It’s an occasion to savour. Winning the Carabao Cup could act as a real springboard for the rest of the campaign.
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Simon Hughes: Yes, because we know the Klopp era is almost at an end. It might prove to be his last trophy as Liverpool’s manager. Most Liverpool supporters will say they have taken something memorable home from the majority of the finals Klopp has steered the club towards. Perhaps above everything, he has made following Liverpool exciting and enjoyable regardless of the result. Maybe that is his greatest achievement.
Andy Jones: Personally, it hadn’t as Liverpool are aiming for bigger and better trophies this season. However, as the game has crept closer, the prospect of it potentially being Klopp’s last final has increased its size.
For the players, this is a new era and a new squad who have yet to win a trophy together. You want to jump over that hurdle as quickly as possible. Win the first and it could be the perfect momentum boost for the rest of the campaign.
Caoimhe O’Neill: They always feel the same, no matter who is playing in them. It is a trophy every team wants to win — especially once you’re in the final — but if you lose it’s not the end of the world. This could be Klopp’s last final, which makes it more meaningful. It is also the first trophy up for grabs this season and could give Liverpool the same taste for silverware it did in 2022 when they went on to play in the FA Cup and Champions League finals.
What team should Liverpool play?
Jones: Is this a trick question? The injury curse makes this relatively simple. Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai face a race against time to be fit. It feels unwise to risk them from the start.
That leaves a line-up very similar to the one that faced Luton Town, with the only discussion surrounding the defence. Ibrahima Konate should come back in at centre-back and Klopp could go safe with Joe Gomez at right-back and Andy Robertson at left-back — but Conor Bradley deserves to start. Sorry, Joe!
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O’Neill: I’d like to see Robertson back in from the start and the same goes for Konate. I wouldn’t be tempted to risk either Nunez or Salah from the start. Liverpool have some important games coming up and I’d trust the spine of the team who beat Luton to get the job done without them. Seeing numbers go up for Nunez and Salah in the second half would be ideal.
Hughes: Only play those who are 100 per cent fit. The demands of a Klopp team mean it shows when they are carrying unfit players. Maybe the exception is Salah, who always seems to contribute something regardless of his physical state or how he’s performing in the match. My ideal team: Caoimhin Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Robertson; Alexis Mac Allister, Wataru Endo, Szoboszlai; Salah, Nunez, Luis Diaz.
Pearce: With the succession of recent injury setbacks, preparations for Wembley have been far from ideal. If Salah, Nunez and Szoboszlai don’t make it, I’d go with the following: Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Endo, Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch; Harvey Elliott, Gakpo, Diaz.
Where will this game be decided?
O’Neill: Remember goals? Well, whoever can score an actual one of them. If Liverpool perform like they did in the second half against Luton, they’ll be OK. I’m not sure who can withstand the pressure when Liverpool click into their ‘attack, attack, attack’ gear, although Chelsea did put a wall up for the most part against Manchester City recently. Pep Guardiola’s team had 31 shots in total but only scored once.
Pearce: Liverpool dominated that midfield area when they demolished Chelsea 4-1 at Anfield in late January. Big-money signings Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez were outfought and outclassed. The personnel will be different for Liverpool on Sunday but can Klopp’s depleted side exert anything like the same level of control? If they can, they will triumph because, even shorn of some attacking talent, they still possess plenty of firepower if the supply lines are there.
Jones: Liverpool’s attack and whether they look like they did in the first half or the second half against Luton. They can’t afford to pass up the type of chances they did in that opening 45 minutes.
Transitions will also be key. In Mac Allister and Endo, Liverpool’s midfield can lack pace so if Chelsea break, which was one of their tactics in the recent match, they could cause problems. Liverpool have to limit that.
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Hughes: Almost entirely on the availability and fluidity of Liverpool’s forwards. In very basic terms, if Nunez and Salah play and play well, Liverpool will win.
How many of Chelsea’s XI would get in Liverpool’s first-choice side?
Hughes: It depends on who Liverpool have available! Caicedo and Fernandez have not performed very well for Chelsea but they are undoubtedly excellent players. In an alternative world where London is not so alluring for foreign footballers, Caicedo might have been lining up for Liverpool. I understand why there is a lot of enthusiasm for Endo because of how little he cost and his contribution to the season but in the long-term, Caicedo would have been a good buy for Liverpool.
Pearce: There’s a reason Chelsea are 25 points behind Liverpool having lost 10 league games already this season. They have squandered a lot of money on sub-standard talent. I don’t think any Chelsea players get in Liverpool’s first-choice lineup. Considering the injuries, I’d probably take Fernandez and possibly Cole Palmer.
Jones: Klopp and Liverpool’s recruitment team thought Caicedo would when they agreed to pay £110million (now $140m) for him. Instead, he signed for Chelsea and Endo arrived for £16million instead — that has worked out very well for one party.
Palmer and Fernandez are the two who might find a way in. Both have bags of quality but when Klopp has a full squad to choose from, they may have to settle for a place on the bench. Christopher Nkunku deserves a mention too.
O’Neill: Palmer. The more you watch him, the more you wonder how Manchester City let him leave.
Where do Chelsea rank among Liverpool’s rivals these days?
Pearce: Times have changed since those Jose Mourinho vs Rafael Benitez battles when familiarity bred contempt. Liverpool are no longer the plucky underdogs. There’s still an edge to these games — it was there in the two domestic cup finals two years ago. But the reality is that Chelsea aren’t the threat they once were. It’s not on the same level as the rivalry with either Manchester City or Manchester United. However, you could sense the collective glee at Anfield when Chelsea were hammered last month. It still matters.
Jones: They’ve fallen down the pecking order, largely in recent years owing to their own shortcomings. Manchester United, Manchester City and Everton are above them and even Arsenal might be competing with them. It’s still a big game and rivalry that makes winning against them really sweet.
O’Neill: The rivalry has lost its way in recent years. Bring back the Mourinho shushing. The glory days are long gone.
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Hughes: From a Liverpool perspective, the edge has been taken away because Liverpool, more often than not, have been ahead of Chelsea in the Klopp era. Still, the games themselves have often been tense affairs. Salah’s goal at Anfield in 2019 nearly took the roof off and since then, Liverpool have largely held the edge on Chelsea. The period between 2004 and 2010 was different because the clubs were poles apart on the pitch and off it but there remains a sense of social separation between the two fanbases, which means there is a feeling of importance whenever the sides meet.
What’s your favourite League Cup memory?
Pearce: Watching a young Steve McManaman lead the charge in the 1995 final victory over Bolton Wanderers. He was unstoppable that day and took his two goals brilliantly.
Hughes: Strangely, maybe, progressing to the final in 2012 when Craig Bellamy terrorised Manchester City at Anfield. It was one of the best individual performances I’ve seen from any player. He was desperate to annoy Roberto Mancini.
Jones: I was too young to fully appreciate the successes in 2001 and 2003, so the 2012 final when Liverpool beat Cardiff on penalties. Dirk Kuyt’s slide-tackle goal still baffles me. More recently, Van Dijk’s penalty and stare-down of Kepa Arrizabalaga in the 2022 shootout were brilliant.
O’Neill: Philippe Coutinho’s goal in the 2016 final defeat against Manchester City. It was a final remembered as Klopp’s first at Liverpool and for Liverpool’s terrible penalty shootout performance but that goal brought the game level seven minutes from time and the let-off in the Liverpool end was incredible. It was my first time at Wembley, I got a ticket in the ballot and booked a return ticket on a National Express coach. I was on my own that day, but in the most corny way, was I really?
What’s your prediction?
Pearce: Given the players Liverpool have missing, I can see it being tight. I’m going 1-1 after 90 minutes with Klopp’s side to win it 2-1 after extra time.
O’Neill: Liverpool will get over the line and won’t need extra time to do so. Bradley puts in another player of the match performance at the national stadium just like he did for Bolton last season when they won the Papa John’s Trophy. This is not his first rodeo, nor is it Liverpool’s.
Jones: We’re going to end up in a penalty shootout again. Then let the lottery begin.
Hughes: Surely not another 0-0… Chelsea take the lead but Liverpool recover, scoring twice to seal it.
(Top photos: Getty Images)