By Fabio Passerini
Liverpool will be hoping to earn their second piece of silverware this season and another step closer to the elusive quadruple as they face Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley this weekend.
Chelsea will be eager to get the better of their Merseyside opponents having been beaten earlier in the season in the League Cup final 11-10 on penalties after a scoreless draw.
The FA Cup is the most historic football trophy in the world, having first been played in 1872 at Kennington Oval where Wanderers beat Royal Engineers 1-0.
Since then, this historic cup has been won by 44 different teams with Arsenal winning it the most with 14 cups to their name, most recently lifting it in 2020.
For Liverpool, this weekend could see them lift the cup for the eighth time should they win, whereas, Chelsea are eyeing up the chance to make themselves nine-time winners.
Both have fought hard to get to this position with Liverpool arguably facing the tougher run by grinding out a hard fought 3-2 victory against Manchester City in the semi-final.
Before then, the seven-time winners breezed past lower league teams with wins against Shrewsbury, Cardiff, Norwich and Nottingham Forest.
Chelsea on the other hand, have arguably had the easier run with their only real challenge coming from Luton Town in the fourth round – coming from behind to win 2-3 at Kenilworth Road.
Liverpool come into this game as strong favourites having not lost in all domestic competitions since back in late December when they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Leicester.
The Reds have since been in outstanding form having won 25 times in 31 games and only conceded 19 goals in the process.
Furthermore, Liverpool have given themselves a real chance at becoming the first team in English footballing history to win all four major trophies in one season by already winning the League Cup, reaching the Champions League final and FA Cup final as well as being within touching distance of the Premier League title.
The Blues will be desperate to win this weekend as it is their only shot of gaining any silverware after a turbulent season with the conflict in Ukraine forcing their owner Roman Abramovic to sell the club.
Chelsea started off the season as one of the favourites to win the Premier League based on their Champions League success last season but have since struggled to keep up with Liverpool and Manchester City leaving them 16 points adrift of the top.
Despite the sheer amount of games Liverpool have played this season, they are expected to play a full-strength team with only one player, Fabinho, out with a hamstring injury.
Chelsea on the other hand, have an uphill battle as they have a weakened team with several injuries to star players including N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Ben Chilwell.
The FA Cup however, is famous for providing unexpected results so it is anybody’s guess as to who will be victorious as both teams battle it out for the iconic trophy.
