When Liverpool and Chelsea met on the opening day of the Premier League season back in August, they did so while standing at the same crossroads.
Both had underachieved enormously the previous campaign and, while at vastly contrasting levels of expense and for differing reasons, had undergone a significant transformation during the summer transfer market as they attempted to greater realise expectations.
While the subsequent draw suggested their seasons would most likely follow a similar route, rarely have the two teams been on the same path since with Chelsea continuing to struggle under new boss Mauricio Pochettino as a new-look Liverpool rediscovered their verve and remain challenging on four fronts.
The two clubs, though, will converge once again this afternoon when they clash at Wembley in the League Cup final. And if Liverpool’s swift revival has caught some off guard, there has been no such shock among Jurgen Klopp’s squad.
“I don’t think anyone here is surprised,” says Andy Robertson. “We had belief in the dressing room, and when we looked at the new signings and the players we already had, we had the quality. We just needed to piece it all together and I think we did that pretty quickly at the start of the season.
“We have been on a roll since then. When you get to February and you’re still in every competition then the season has been a success up to this point. Now we have to keep going.
“I think we were slightly different to Chelsea. They’ve had a lot of turnover in players in the last 12 months or so. We had a transition in the summer, when we lost a few players and replaced them with four or five. But the change here hasn’t been as big as it has been at Chelsea.
“It’s a difficult task piecing it all together. We had the advantage of having a few players who have been here a long time, the same manager, and we have just tried to take the new lads under our wing and show them the way while they’re settling in.
“Now we are reaping the rewards. The new lads have done so well, especially over the last few weeks when Macca (Alexis Mac Allister) and Wata (Wataru Endo) have been different class. Then the young lads have stepped up as well. We’re going to have to keep dipping into the squad, that’s for sure. You could see how young our bench was on Wednesday. We’re a bit depleted but we will go with everything we’ve got on Sunday and we go there full of confidence.”
Indeed, the memorable midweek 4-1 Premier League win at home to Luton Town was achieved without 10 first-team players, the majority of which would be deemed regular starters. Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota, Curtis Jones, Thiago Alcantara, Joel Matip and Stefan Bajcetic are all out for the long-term while Dominik Szoboszlai is unlikely feature a Wembley. A late decision will be taken on Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah.
Robertson has already had his own spell on the sidelines having dislocated his shoulder while on international duty with Scotland back in October, but has now been back for a month and will hope to start at left-back ahead of Joe Gomez.
“My injury was a long four months,” he admits. “I’m not used to being injured. It was my first operation in football and hopefully my last. I just worked super hard to get back fit to the levels I’d stopped at. I have timed it right. I have lost a lot of games but I want to make up for lost time.
“You want to do what you love which is being on the grass, in training and playing games. When that stops, I don’t think anyone is a good patient but you also have to listen to your body and that’s what I did. I relied on the experts and the physio who was doing the rehab and trusted him in everything he did.
“I just took it week-by-week. I never went too far ahead of myself, I tried to improve where I was one Monday to the next Monday, and for me every week I was getting better and stronger is what kept me going.”
Robertson was among those who scored during an epic penalty shoot-out when Liverpool beat Chelsea in the League Cup final two years ago following a goalless draw. And he would rather the Reds this time won without the need for the walk from the halfway line to take a spot kick.
