When Liverpool and Chelsea take to the Wembley pitch on Saturday afternoon, it will be their fourth confrontation in the 2021/22 season. In the league, their two meetings ended 2-2.
Chelsea and Liverpool met in the League Cup final in February and the match ended 0-0 in regulation and extra time.
Liverpool’s second goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher was the hero, saving Kepa’s penalty and scoring his own as Liverpool started their quest for a quadruple of titles.
Chelsea will hope to get one win over Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool to end their season with a triumph and stop the FA Cup final defeats. This is their third consecutive final.
They lost 2-1 to Arsenal in 2020 and 1-0 to Leicester last year. If Chelsea lose on Saturday, they will become the first-ever team to lose three consecutive FA Cup finals just as one manager will become the first-ever German manager to lift the FA Cup.
Klopp has the edge in knockout matches, having beaten Thomas Tuchel in the 2015/16 Europa League quarter-final and the 2021-22 League Cup final. In the 18 previous meetings between the two, Klopp has won 10 and Tuchel three.
This is also just the second time in history that the same two teams will contest both the League Cup and FA Cup finals in the same season. The only other season was the 1992/93 season when Arsenal beat Sheffield Wednesday in both finals.
Liverpool are three points behind Manchester City in the Premier League with just two games left in the season; they are in the final of the UEFA Champions League, where they will face Real Madrid on May 28.
READ ALSO: Chelsea 2-0 Crystal Palace: Blues zoom into third consecutive FA Cup final
They have already won the League Cup and will hope to add the FA Cup title just as they did in 2001 when they only ever won the two domestic cup competitions. In that 2000/01 season, the Reds won a treble, adding the UEFA Cup by beating Alaves in the final.
Injuries
Tuchel revealed in his pre-match press conference that both Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante will be risked for the game if they prove their fitness while Klopp revealed Fabinho would not feature as he has not recovered from the knock he picked up against Aston Villa.
Managers’ Words
“This season so far, I think we all agree, is a very successful season. But without winning anything, it will not be the season, so that’s how it is.
“We won the Carabao Cup already but we are Liverpool, we are a world-class club, we have a world-class team, so it’s difficult to define a season as absolutely perfectly successful if you win the Carabao Cup only.” – Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool Manager
“First of all, it’s a big achievement to be in these finals and there has to be, unfortunately, a loser.
“It’s a special energy, it’s a special atmosphere, a special momentum that you have to catch and for sure you need a piece of luck to go away with the trophy. We are aware of that but we feel again well prepared, and the atmosphere is right, the momentum is okay after the reaction in Leeds.” – Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea Manager.
| Round | Chelsea | Liverpool |
|---|---|---|
| Round 3 | Chesterfield home 5-1 | Shrewsbury home 4-1 |
| Round 4 | Plymouth home 2-1 | Cardiff home 3-1 |
| Round 5 | Luton away 3-2 | Norwich home 2-1 |
| Round 6 | Middlesbrough away 2-0 | Nottingham Forest away 1-0 |
| Semi-final | Crystal Palace at Wembley 2-0 | Man City at Wembley 3-2 |
The match kicks off at 4:45 pm.
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