As soon as Liverpool booked their passage to the Carabao Cup final last week, Ibrahima Konate was struck with an instant sense of deja vu.
For the second time in three seasons, the Reds will face Chelsea at Wembley in the competition’s showpiece, and it’s the third meeting of the clubs in a domestic cup final in two years, with the duo having also been the last two standing in the FA Cup in 2022.
The sides are in Premier League action tonight too, and ahead of the fixture at Anfield, the French defender spoke to liverpoolfc.com about Mauricio Pochettino’s side, against whom we’ve drawn our last seven matches (excluding penalty shootouts).
When learning of that statistic, Konate said: “That is crazy! When we qualified for the final of the Carabao Cup [last week], I said, ‘Chelsea again?!’ We had so many draws against them, and I hope that this will be the day that we will get the win.”
If familiarity breeds contempt, then part of Konate must thoroughly hate Chelsea! He’s played against the Blues more than any other team since joining Liverpool in the summer of 2021, featuring in each of the last six meetings between the sides (Transfermarkt).
At least the two cup finals a couple of years ago both saw the 24-year-old and his teammates triumph on penalties, so he remains unbeaten against the west Londoners, a statistic he’ll be determined to preserve for two more matches over the next month.
His instant reaction to reaching the Carabao Cup final reflects how we felt during the 2000s when, for five successive seasons, these two clubs met in the Champions League, with no fewer than three semi-final showdowns in just four years during the Rafael Benitez era at Anfield.
Konate is due a win over Chelsea inside 90 minutes. Tonight is the time to set that record straight!