Alex Keble previews the tactical battle between Liverpool and Chelsea at Wembley, where Thiago will be pivotal to the Reds’ hopes of a first FA Cup win since 2006…
There is an emerging sense that the FA Cup is getting its magic back. Saturday’s final – given the reverence of its own day again, with the Premier League pushed to Sunday – is between two of the top three teams in the country for the first time in 15 years, having been taken seriously by pretty much everyone. Better still, the outcome at Wembley feels important for both Liverpool and Chelsea.
The former need to build some momentum on their push for an increasingly-unlikely quadruple, after dropping points against Tottenham Hotspur and only just squeezing past Aston Villa. The latter are at the end of something; this is one last chance to win silverware in the Roman Abramovich era, to cap a gloriously successful period before a new, more economically cautious, chapter begins.
Liverpool are heavy favourites primarily because Chelsea have become saggy during their off-field issues, and with little to play for in the Premier League Thomas Tuchel has seen his defence weaken significantly. It isn’t so easy to turn a switch on and off, and for that reason alone Chelsea start as underdogs.
But Tuchel is undefeated in four matches against Jurgen Klopp, if you count the 0-0 in the Carabao Cup final as a draw, and his tactical approach to this fixture is likely to create another tense and even contest.
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Chelsea will be happy to sit a little deeper than usual and will rarely press, in the hope of drawing Liverpool forward before breaking in behind Klopp’s high defensive line. That has been the basic approach in all their meetings, with Tuchel spending the 90 frantically gesturing at his team to play vertically through the lines. Matteo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante will want to dribble off the back of the…
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