The season is on the line for Chelsea. They have been dethroned from the Champions League pedestal by Real, they were eliminated from the Premier League title race a long time ago and they have lost the Carabao Cup finals after a great game and a nervy penalty shootout against Liverpool. So, the FA Cup is the only consolation reward that is left out there for the Blues. The season started well, but nobody expected this, and by ‘this’ we mean the takeover, which surely shaken the club and the players more than they are ready to admit.Tomorrow… a new chapter is written ✊ pic.twitter.com/5EF6DKPX46— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 13, 2022 So, here they are, in their third FA Cup final in a row, trying to save the season before the summer break and the uncertainty of the future transfers kicks in. The Blues are the third club by the numbers of appearances in the finals (15) and by the number of trophies (8), while Liverpool have one less and their last trophy was won in 2012. Chelsea lost the previous two finals against Arsenal and Leicester and won in for the last time in 2017/18 season against Manchester United.Liverpool can go back to 2005 when they last won the competition, and their last final was in 2012, when they lost to – Chelsea. Apart from that, the Reds are in their quest for quadruple and this would be their second trophy of the season, after Carabao Cup. The fans live the dream and other football fans are also cheering for it, with prompted Pep Guardiola to say that everybody in England supports the Reds to win the title. And Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel understands that.“I would say it is hard to really argue with Guardiola. I do not say I agree 100% but I can understand what he meant. There are huge sympathies for Liverpool, I feel that as well in the whole country. And I can understand it. And if you fight against it, like Pep for many, many years, I can understand the comment, why it feels sometimes like this” said the German.Ready for the #EmiratesFACup Final. 😎See you at Wembley, Blues! 🤝 pic.twitter.com/tVQRRZWhvV— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) May 14, 2022 And with the mindset that they are up against not only Liverpool but with half of the country, Tuchel is ready for the role of ‘bad boys’ and favorites, even thou they are not.“You know Klopp is the master of being the underdog. He can talk you into being the underdog against Villareal and against Benfica – and it’s a miracle, a miracle how they even draw against them. So if we are the bad guys tomorrow, then no problem. 49 or 40%, then no problem. We take that role. We don’t want to have the sympathy of the country tomorrow, we want to have the trophy” said Blues boss.The first Chelsea signing of the post-Abramovich era is a surprisingly frugal – but also wiseAnd on the other side, every press conference begins with the quadruple question, as the Reds are still in the race for all trophies.“If you had said in August that at the end of the season you will be in all finals and two matchdays before the end we are three points behind City, I’d have said ‘nah, I can’t see that happening’. Not all together in the same season. But the boys did it and that’s really special, but we know the decisive part is coming now. It has never been done before so it’s like first step on to whichever island, we’re the first team to give it a try and that’s what we do. Go to all the finals and trying, chasing City, it’s a tough task but that was always clear” said Jurgen Klopp ahead of the game.What a self-evaluation! Salah: ‘I’m the best’As for the preparation, the German tactician is near the end of a brutal schedule so a few days off before the finals he used in a best possible way.“I had two afternoon naps on Wednesday. Two! It worked well. I feel really good. I cannot do it every day. I can do it usually never, but when I can do it, I do it. It worked really well to be honest, I was surprised! It’s all good” said Klopp with a laugh.The Reds call him a club legend but are far from eager to keep himIn the health department, both teams are almost 100%. Klopp is sure to avoid taking any risks over Fabinho if he is not 100% fit, but if that happens, he will be the only absentee for Liverpool. Chelsea will monitor the state of Mateo Kovacic, who injured the same ankle twice in recent times. N’Golo Kante’s comeback would also be welcomed with open arms, but Tuchel is “90% sure” that Jorginho and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be in the middle for Saturday’s final, where Ben Chilwell and Callum Hudson-Odoi will watch on from the sidelines.FA CUP FINALSaturday18.45: (3.30) Chelsea (3.40) Liverpool (2.20)
