Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino has responded to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s mind games ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.
The Blues travel to Wembley looking to land a major trophy in Pochettino’s first season as boss in a welcome distraction from a poor Premier League campaign.
Chelsea sit 10th in the top-flight table, 25 points behind leaders Liverpool, who defeated Pochettino’s side 4-1 when they met at Anfield on January 31.
Pochettino felt that result was ‘completely unfair’ and has responded to Klopp’s claim that Liverpool are underdogs for the this weekend’s final.
Quizzed about Klopp’s comments, Pochettino said: ‘He’s one of the best, with Pep [Guardiola], coaches in the world. He’s clever enough.
‘He knows that when you play a final, circumstances can happen. If they are not favourites, we are not favourites (laughs).
‘They have experience to compete like a team, be involved in different finals. For some of us, it’s maybe their first final. He is clever enough.’
Asked about Chelsea’s defeat to Liverpool last month, Pochettino added: ‘The team always needs to learn from the good and not so good experiences.
‘After Liverpool, the result was completely unfair because if you watch the game, there were a few penalties [appeals].
‘Maybe that was good for us, to feel the pain, negative situation, and to be stronger now and to find the way to compete better and to start to see that we need to live in a different way.’
