Gianfranco Zola has predicted that Liverpool’s impending clash with Chelsea in the FA Cup final will ‘be a close one’.
The Merseysiders are up for their potential second piece of silverware this term after vanquishing the Blues via a penalty shootout in the Carabao Cup final.
“It’s going to be a close one,” the Italian told ITV Sport. “We know how good Liverpool can be but Chelsea is, in my opinion, on the same level.”
The Reds last met the London-based outfit in the competition a decade ago, with Andy Carroll’s second-half goal not enough to prevent Sir Kenny Dalglish’s men from avoiding a 2-1 defeat to Roberto Di Matteo’s side.
Though we’d absolutely agree that our upcoming opponents are certainly not to be trifled with, particularly not in a one-off occasion, we’d argue that Zola has been generous with his praise.
Both Manchester City and ourselves have more than proven how far ahead we are ahead of the rest of the top four and the table at large with a whopping 16-point gap existing between Jurgen Klopp’s outfit and the Londoners.
We’ll need to be at our best regardless to vanquish the Blues in the FA Cup final, and we’ll be hoping that the absence of Fabinho doesn’t prove to be decisive in that regard.