John Aldridge looks ahead to Liverpool’s League Cup final clash with Chelsea in the second half of his weekly ECHO column.
The title-race is heating up, but there are so many tough games still to come. We can’t look any further than the next one.
Just beat Luton. Don’t think about anything other than Luton. Don’t look any further, get the three points in the next game, then attack the next one. If we can do what we can do, then we’re in with a great shout.
Even if it means at least having to avoid defeat at home to Man City, and probably having to beat them. But you don’t look at that game until it’s the next one. For now, it’s all about Luton and getting those three points in the bag.
Losing Curtis Jones is a big blow though. I’m not sure who Jurgen will turn to to replace him, and he’ll be thinking about what he’s going to play in the final. He’s got Gravenberch or Harvey Elliott, who has not done an awful lot wrong this year.
Hopefully Szoboszlai will be available. I think Gravenberch and Elliott will probably share the position against Luton on Wednesday. The one who starts will get 60 minutes, and the other will get 30 minutes. Endo and Mac Allister will also play, of course. There’s no else left he could go with.
Stake your claim. One door closes, another one opens. I’ve been lucky enough to play in finals and manage finals. Take it from me, they’ll all be desperate to play.
If you’re given the opportunity, whether you’re young Harvey, Gravenberch, Conor, or Joe Gomez, whoever is up front, you have to play well.
If you’re up front, you have to score to get in the mind of the manager. I don’t think Nunez will start on Wednesday, so whichever one of them is in attack instead will be thinking, ‘I know he scored at the weekend but if I score one or two goals here, I’ve got a great shot of starting at the weekend.’
That’s how the squad works. It’s unfortunate for the player who gets injured, someone comes in, does a job, and takes the position. But that’s just the way it is.
Chelsea were miles off it when they came to Anfield a few weeks ago, but they’ve got a bit of form since then. A little bit of belief. If we play to the way we can, we’ll win the cup.
But they’re dangerous and they showed that at Man City. They’ve got some really good players. When you’ve spent billions like they have, that’s what you’d expect. It’s just gelling them together.
Pochettino does have them gelled a little bit more than they were a month ago. Their performance at Man City was a lot better than how they played at Anfield. They’re dangerous.
It’s a cup final and they know better than most people what cup finals can do to a side. We’ve just got to go to Wembley and beat them again. Obviously it would be nice to do it three times in finals on the bounce against them.
The way Raheem Sterling left Liverpool was unsavoury. Fans still boo him even though it was a long time ago now. But his agent had a lot to do with it. It doesn’t matter now, just do the job against him.
He’s dangerous, of course he’s dangerous. He showed that against Man City. He’s got experience now. He might not have the legs he used to have, but he’s still a dangerous player. You don’t single him out, he’s just part of the team you have to get the better of.
It’s early days but it looks like we dodged a bullet with Moises Caicedo. He’s still a good player but he’s not an £110m player. So we dodged that, and we bought wisely instead when we dodged it.
We have to just make sure he doesn’t win the midfield at the weekend. Winning the midfield goes a long way to winning any game. You have to do the job there.
Endo, the more the season has gone on, the more he has become needed by us. He’s shown real quality that people didn’t realise he had. You’ve got to look at the manager and the people behind the scenes for getting him in.
They knew what he was doing in Germany, his leadership qualities and getting about. He was brilliant at the weekend. The longer the game went on, the better he got, and he could be crucial in the final.
