LONDON —
Jurgen Klopp wants Liverpool to take a step towards immortality when
they target the first trophy in their historic quadruple bid in Sunday's League
Cup final against Chelsea.
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Klopp's side are chasing
silverware in all four major competitions after closing the gap on Premier
League leaders
Manchester City to three points.
The Reds have made it to
their first domestic cup final since 2016, are on course for the
Champions League quarter-finals after a last 16 first leg win at Inter Milan and host
Norwich in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday.
Klopp has already delivered
Champions League glory in 2019 and a long-awaited
Premier League title in 2020,
but the German knows only sustained success will see his group ranked alongside
the club's 1970s and 1980s legends.
"We all know that in
the moment the people are really happy," Klopp said.
"But in 20 years if you
want to talk about this team, I would not be surprised if people would then say
if we don't win anything anymore, 'Yeah they were good, but they should have
won more'.
"That's why we should
try now to win a few things. And the next chance, the best chance we have this
weekend, is against Chelsea when it's really tricky."
Liverpool captain
Jordan Henderson
believes victory at Wembley would be the perfect springboard for even greater
success in the final weeks of the season.
No English club has ever won
the top four trophies available in a single campaign and Henderson said:
"It is a big moment. To get a trophy so early on in the season can give
the squad a big boost."
Henderson is the only
survivor from Liverpool's last domestic final victory in 2012 when he helped
his team beat Cardiff on penalties to clinch the League Cup.
"We want to use it as a
platform to give us a big confidence boost going towards the business end of
the season," he added.
'No hard feelings'
Liverpool forward
Roberto Firmino has been ruled out after missing the last two games with a groin
injury, but Diogo Jota could feature following ankle ligament damage.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel's
biggest decision once again involves Romelu Lukaku after he dropped the
troubled Belgian striker for the midweek
Champions League win against Lille.
Lukaku has scored just 10
goals since his club record £97 million ($131 million) move from Inter Milan
last year and expressed unhappiness with the way he was being used by Tuchel
earlier this season.
The 28-year-old had only
seven touches in his most recent appearance against Crystal Palace, the lowest
by a Premier League player since 2003-04, with
Kai Havertz scoring in an
impressive display as his replacement against Lille.
Publicly at least, Tuchel is
putting Lukaku's recent struggles down to mental and physical tiredness.
"He is an important player,
there is a lot of focus on him, but if you allow yourself to zoom out a little
bit you can see he played a lot of matches from the start for us," Tuchel
said.
"Once you play for
Chelsea you accept the team goes first. That's why there are no hard feelings.
We can only achieve our goals together."
Tuchel could start England
right-back Reece James, who has been sidelined since December with a hamstring
injury, and is debating whether Edouard Mendy or
Kepa Arrizabalaga will feature
in goal.
"Kepa did fantastic in
the period where we had to be without Edou. I cannot get sentimental about it.
I have to do what is best for the team," Tuchel said.
Chelsea have proved masters
of cup competitions since Tuchel took charge in January 2021, winning last
season's Champions League, while lifting the
Club World Cup and European Super
Cup this term.
The Blues will be eyeing
their first League Cup silverware since 2015, having lost the 2019 final to
Manchester City.
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