A warm embrace should be shared between the departing Klopp and long-time friend David Wagner on Sunday, but such pleasantries will cease as soon as the first whistle blows, and the former has pleaded with stunned Liverpool fans to keep their tributes in reserve while there is a quadruple to be won.
Not the first team to benefit from alarming Arsenal profligacy over the winter period, Liverpool somehow kept their sheets clean at the Emirates in their third-round tie and delivered two second-half sucker punches, as Jakub Kiwior headed Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free kick into his own net before Luis Diaz completed the job with a thunderous drive.
Liverpool’s North London success – as smash-and-grab as it was – represented the third win of a five-match victorious run for Klopp’s crop, whose green streak was snapped in a 1-1 draw with Fulham in midweek, but that Craven Cottage stalemate was enough to send the Reds through to the EFL Cup showpiece thanks to a 3-2 aggregate success.
As was the case in the 2021-22 season, Chelsea will stand in their way of EFL Cup glory and could also bid to stop Liverpool from completing a domestic double in the FA Cup too – depending on how their fourth-round battle with Aston Villa plays out – but Klopp’s men cannot concern themselves with such hypotheticals at this juncture.
By beating Fulham 2-1 in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final, Liverpool extended their exceptional unbeaten run at Anfield to 24 matches since their 5-2 humbling at the hands of Real Madrid, and 11 of their last 12 FA Cup ties against lower-division sides have ended in victory.
