2021-2022 League Cup Final: Liverpool vs. Chelsea

Liverpool & Chelsea have faced off eight previous times in League Cup competition....

-30 August 1977 (2nd Round, LIV): Liverpool 2, Chelsea 0
-1 Nov. 2000 (Round of 32, LIV): Liverpool 3, Chelsea 1
-27 Feb. 2005 (Final - Wembley): Chelsea 3, Liverpool 2 (extra time)
-19 Dec. 2007 (Qtr. Final - CHE): Chelsea 2, Liverpool 0
-29 Nov. 2011 (Qtr. Final - CHE): Liverpool 2, Chelsea 0
-20 Jan. 2015 (Semi-Final 1st Leg - LIV): Liverpool 1, Chelsea 1
-27 Jan. 2015 (Semi-Final 2nd Leg - CHE): Chelsea 1, Liverpool 0
-26 Sept. 2018 (Round of 32, LIV): Chelsea 2, Liverpool 1

(The Guardian) More from Tuchel now, who is asked about Romelu Lukaku, he of the seven touches. It doesn’t sound like he’s itching to start him against Liverpool: He played a lot of matches. We had a similar situation with Jorginho, one of our captains, because we feel him a little mentally tired. The focus on Romelu that I understand but it’s a similar situation as Jorginho. The decisions are made clear and the players accept [them]. Once you play for Chelsea, you accept the team goes first and that’s why there are no hard feelings, not from Romelu or from me.

Tuchel would not confirm if, like Jürgen Klopp, he would continue to play his second-choice goalkeeper ahead of his first-choice one in the Carabao Cup: “I will not tell you. I will take the decision late. Kepa played in the Club World Cup semi-final and brought us to the final but then we took the decision to go with Mendy (Édouard Mendy) for the final, who was back from the African Cup of Nations. The last decision we will take after training as always. Kepa did fantastic in the period that we had to be without Mendy, so it’s an uncomfortable and very comfortable situation to be in.”

And on the situation in Ukraine and if Uefa had made the right call by stripping Russia of the Champions League final: “Yes a clear yes, but sadly it is the worst reason to change location, the absolutely worst reason we feel horrible about it in general it clouds our minds and it clouds our focus of course and we can absolutely understand the decision. There are things more important and the focus from us in sport and globally speaking is not on the final.”

Got my flags and scarfs out hanging in the windows for this one, feeling excited with a hint of nervousness. Chelsea are a strong team but we have more than enough to beat them.

COME ON REDS

(The Guardian) Preamble
--It’s cup final day! Wembley is the venue as Liverpool, who have won this competition quite a lot (eight times, level at the top of the all-time table with Manchester City) if not for a decade, come up against the footballing wing of London-based charitable foundation (lol) Chelsea. Liverpool are the country’s form team, with one draw (at Stamford Bridge, in their first game of 2022) and six wins in the league this calendar year, while Chelsea have only two league wins (and, to be fair, a Club World Cup) to their name since the end of 2021. Encouraging omen dept: there hasn’t been a goalless draw between these teams in 39 meetings since 2008, when Liverpool’s attack consisted of Ryan Babel, Dirk Kuyt and Peter Crouch so failing to score wasn’t terribly surprising.

(The Guardian) It has been reported today that John Toshack, who scored 96 goals in 247 games for Liverpool between 1970 and 1977 and won three league titles, an FA Cup and a couple of Uefa Cups, and has gone on to manage an absolute shedload of clubs including Swansea and Real Madrid, is in intensive care in a Spanish hospital after contracting Covid 19.
-Read more: www.theguardian.com/football/2022/feb/27/liverpool-john-toshack

From both Ste_Macca and Webster here at TTR: get well soon, Toschak!

Currently playing...

The teams are out on the pitch; however, Thiago Alcantara was injured during warm-ups, so Naby Keita has been swapped in to replace him.