Liverpool can take first step to unprecedented quadruple by following Chelsea blueprint in EFL Cup final
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Updated 25/02/2022 at 11:59 GMT
Liverpool are a club built on success but in reality have been overshadowed by Chelsea across the last two decades. The power shift can be traced back to their meeting the final of the League Cup in 2005 and with the two set to do battle for the trophy exactly 17 years on, Ibrahim Mustapha looks at how Jurgen Klopp's side can turn the tide in their favour.
Sadio Mane of Liverpool celebrates with teammates after scoring their team's fourth goal during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Leeds United at Anfield on February 23, 2022 in Liverpool, England.
Image credit: Getty Images
When these two clubs met in the final of this competition in 2005, the result and fallout signalled a notable shift in the English football landscape.
Liverpool as a club were naturally used to success and had lifted the trophy in 2001 and 2003 when they took on a Chelsea side in the early stages of their revolution under Roman Abramovich.
The Russian businessman’s acquisition of the club some 18 months earlier was seen as a threat to the perceived established order in the Premier League, and the first trophy of this new regime was secured with a 3-2 extra time win over Rafa Benitez’s Reds at the Millennium Stadium.
This milestone triumph of the Abramovich era came at a time when rival fans – Liverpool especially – would mock Chelsea for their supposed lack of ‘history’.
Exactly 17 years to the day later, Chelsea will look to win the cup for the fourth time under the Russian which would make it 19 major trophies – excluding the Community Shield and European Super Cup – since his arrival in 2003.
That list includes five Premier League titles and two Champions League wins - as well as the Club World Cup just earlier this month - which has truly solidified Chelsea’s place among football’s elite.
This is the kind of success Liverpool teams of the past would consider the norm but in something of a contrast, since 2005, their own trophy haul has been comparatively sparing.
Two Champions League wins in that time are of course nothing to be taken lightly but with just one League title, League Cup and FA Cup in that time - and also one Club World Cup - the majority of the last two decades cannot be described as a period of glittering success when held up against their London-based rivals.
However, that one of the European victories and the emphatic title win came recently under Jurgen Klopp is enough reason to believe that the tide can finally turn back in their favour.
The Reds come into the final is blistering form, winning their last nine in a row in all competitions, culminating in a sensational 6-0 victory over Leeds in midweek.
Klopp’s side are poised to chase down Manchester City in the race for the Premier League and are doing so playing a style of football that leaves onlookers in awe.
The pursuit for European glory is also on the agenda with one foot in the quarter-final of the Champions League following a 2-0 win away at Inter in their last-16 first leg tie.
Still in the FA Cup too, talk of an unprecedented quadruple is not as ludicrous a suggestion as one may think.
Any concerns about the form and fitness of star men Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane following their AFCON exertions last month can be snuggly put to bed with the duo picking up exactly where they left off following their returns to Anfield.
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LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 23: ( THE SUN OUT,THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT ) Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates after scoring the first goal during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Leeds United at Anfield on February 23, 2022 in Liverpool, Eng
Image credit: Getty Images
Last season, defensive issues undermined their challenge for honours, in part due to the long-term absence of Virgil van Dijk, however this year the Dutchman is very much back and performing at his terrifying best.
Add to this the formidable midfield duo of Thiago and Fabinho, the contributions of Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Diogo Jota’s input as a more than capable understudy for the frontmen and it’s a team entirely capable of sweeping all before them.
Klopp’s attitude to domestic cup competitions in recent years can be described at best, as one of indifference, but at worst, one of near disdain, often seeing them as an inconvenience rather than another route to glory.
This Sunday might, and should see a change in approach as he goes full strength, much like Chelsea who are certainly less dismissive of so-called ‘smaller’ trophies. The mantra at Stamford Bridge is very much one that winning breeds winning.
It would have been unthinkable to suggest 17 years ago that afternoon in Cardiff but Liverpool can perhaps take a leaf out of Chelsea’s book, realise an unforgettable season and spark a period of trophy-winning success – starting this weekend against the Blues themselves.
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