The Reds advanced to the final after overcoming Premier League leaders Manchester City 3-2 in a thrilling semi-final clash.
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Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk said Chelsea’s individual quality is a big thing and they have the capability to hurt the Reds ahead of the FA Cup final on Saturday. Jurgen Klopp’s side are aiming to end a 16-year wait for a domestic cup triumph. Liverpool advanced to the final after overcoming Premier League leaders Manchester City 3-2 in a thrilling semi-final clash. Meanwhile for the Blues, the FA Cup represents the only piece of silverware left on the line this campaign, and fellow capital side Crystal Palace were no match for Thomas Tuchel’s side’s superiority in the semi-finals.
Your 2021/22 #EmiratesFACup winners are amongst them ?@LFC ? @ChelseaFC
Who will it be? ? pic.twitter.com/dFpk5qkbH1
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) April 17, 2022
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Van Dijk was speaking to Liverpool’s official website and he said: “The individual quality is a big thing, They have different ways to play against you, attack you and create dangerous moments. They have different moments they are also very good at; quality in midfield, up front, behind. They are a complete team. This last part of the season they haven’t been as consistent as they obviously wish to be – could be through injuries, different things, setbacks they had with [being] knocked out of the Champions League. But it doesn’t really matter in this final. This final is going to be one game, both teams want to win it as much as possible. It’s going to be a very tough and good game.”
Liverpool, the seven-time winners, beat Man City in the last four stage courtesy of a brilliant first-half performance that saw them finding the back of the net three times. Ibrahima Konate opened the scoring before Sadio Mane netted a double to make it 3-0. Although Pep Guardiola’s side came out all guns blazing to score two goals through Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish, the Reds managed to hold on to the slender lead and reach its 15th final. While the Reds have won the Premier League and Champions League in the previous seasons under Klopp, the 54-year-old has not managed to lead it past the fifth round of the FA Cup before the current season.
“This is the only trophy we didn’t win so far as a group of players since I’ve been at the club,” the defender said.Now we have a big chance – against a fantastic Chelsea. It has been maybe too long ago since the last time we won it as a club. We have a good chance to get this in our cabinet as well. We know how tough it’s going to be, we’ve seen already in the Carabao Cup final. We’ll see. We’ll go there and hopefully [have] a fantastic day out again.”
For Chelsea, who started the season as Champions League winners, the FA Cup represents the only piece of silverware left on the line this campaign. Thuchel’s side are placed third in the Premier League standings and head into the title decider on the back of a convincing 3-0 win at Leeds United on Wednesday night.
