Looking ahead to the Carabao Cup final, former Liverpool striker Neil Mellor says this is hopefully the start of a glorious goodbye to Jurgen Klopp…
I think momentum's important for what Liverpool could achieve this season and obviously winning the EFL Cup final will help keep that feel good factor around the football club, which is what there is. I was at Anfield for the game against Luton and there was the real togetherness. Liverpool were without Allison, Matip, Trent, Szobozlai, Jones, Thiago, Nunez, Jota & Sala. I've just named 10 players, all not playing in a Premier League game and they still won 4-1!
Liverpool need some of those players back quickly because of some massive games around the corner and they might get away with a few games with all those players missing. Not a lot of them but in the short term they can, and I think they will against Chelsea.
If Salah and Nunez can play some part it will be huge for Liverpool. The injuries are a big factor but I’m still backing the Reds in normal time.
Paul Robinson says we just don’t know which Chelsea will turn up
The consistency is the inconsistency. The money they've spent on the players, the squad, the manager: everything's been brought into question. Then they go and get a draw at City!
They're porous, they concede so many goals. You don't know which Chelsea you going to get. They do seem to have turned a corner, but every time we talk about Chelsea turning the corner, they bang it in reverse and come back round again. Liverpool have got a lot of players missing. He might not risk the players that are touch and go because of the amount of games they've got coming up and that does give Chelsea an opportunity. I think this will be closer than people expect. Liverpool should be strong enough. They should have enough players fit enough but looking at that line up against Luton, what they put out the other night it’s not the Liverpool you would expect. Can they hurt Chelsea? Yes, of course they can. But Chelsea should be feared for what they did at City.
I think it'll go all the way. I think we've had penalties and extra time in a couple of previous cup finals. I think Chelsea will take Liverpool to extra time and penalties.
Neil: Chelsea were much better the last time they met in the two finals. They're mid table team at the moment. Whereas you look at the togetherness at Liverpool that’s definitely apparent. I just think Liverpool are strong favourites to win this one. 2-0 in normal time.