Liverpool play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the second leg of the semi-final of the Capital One Cup final tonight. Here are four critical factors that will decide the game for the Reds.
Mentality
Chelsea have the best home record in the Premier League, having won each of their ten top flight matches at Stamford Bridge, but Bradford City have proven they are beatable in west London with a stunning victory in the FA Cup fourth round.
We played sensationally well in the first leg, and Chelsea were lucky to emerge with a draw from the game. We’ll need to go into the game with real belief that we can cause them trouble – despite a poor record against Mourinho’s Blues over the last two years.
Defence
While the best Liverpool performances of the last two seasons have been when we’ve blitzed teams, focusing on outscoring rather than containing our opponents, we’ll need to play intelligently here.
Brendan Rodgers is likely to select a three man back line again, with Emre Can, Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho seemingly his first choice central defence at present.
Should Chelsea deploy Diego Costa on his own up front, that will leave two spare men in the heart of the Reds back line, and deficits elsewhere on the pitch.
We’ll have to do a really good job at managing space for this to work.
Goalkeeper
It’s fair to say that Simon Mignolet hasn’t convinced in all of his performances this season.
While a superb shot-stopper, the Belgian has struggled to command his area at set pieces, with his decision making and on the ball.
We’re regularly linked with the signing of a new first choice goalkeeper, but Mignolet will have to play tonight. He’ll need to be on top of his game if we are to progress to the final.
Cutting edge
One of the biggest issues for Liverpool this term has been profligacy – we’re simply not taking our chances.
Only three teams have taken more shots per goal this season in the Premier League than our 15.6, but those teams are Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal – the league’s three top scoring sides. We’ve only managed 31 goals in 22 matches – far behind the clinical finishing tallies of the Gunners, Man City and our opponents this evening, who have managed 39, 45 and 51 respectively.
We ought to have comfortably won the first leg, having taken 19 shots to Chelsea’s two, and if we can improve our deadliness in front of goal, we might get the results we deserve.