LIVERPOOL seemed to be the clear winners in their midfield battle with Chelsea.
But the long list of Kop crocks gives the Blues’ £100m men the chance to have the last laugh in the Carabao Cup Final.
Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, both individually and as a partnership, are finally threatening to live up to their massive fees.
Liverpool’s two-for-the-price-of-one approach has paid dividends to date, with £60m Dominik Szoboszlai and £40m Alexis Mac Allister underpinning their fine first half of the season.
But with Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones among the Reds stars ruled out of Sunday’s showpiece, it is Mauricio Pochettino’s side who look the stronger.
Caicedo’s early struggles at Stamford Bridge made it look like Liverpool had had a lucky escape when the Ecuador international rejected them (as did fellow Blues signing Romeo Lavia).
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Szoboszlai, on the other hand, hit the ground running, confidently taking on Steven Gerrard’s old No 8 shirt and giving all-action displays shot through with top-drawer technique.
And of the two Argentinian World Cup winners who made big Premier League moves in 2023, Mac Allister was by far the more impressive.
The Reds’ new signing arrived at Anfield with two and half seasons of Premier League experience behind him and it showed.
In comparison, Fernandez looked like a little boy lost at times, having only arrived at Benfica in the summer of 2022 ahead of his sensational move to Chelsea the following January..
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Both he and Caicedo, Mac Allister’s former Brighton team-mate, showed flashes of their quality. But not consistently and rarely in the same game, which made it difficult for Chelsea to impose themselves.
The pair suffered so much abuse after the 4-1 league defeat at Liverpool last month that they came off social media. Which was probably for the best, as an even more embarrassing defeat, 4-2 at home to Wolves, followed.
But the FA Cup Fourth Round replay win at Aston Villa felt like a turning point – although Pochettino’s revamped side had already witnessed a few false dawns.
Against a high-flying Villa side, Caicedo and Fernandez bossed the game and made their opponents’ much-praised midfield look very ordinary indeed.
Fernandez stole the headlines with the brilliant third goal he scored from a free kick.
Caicedo, though, was just as impressive, though, in a less eye-catching way.
The bad old days seemed to have returned immediately in the first half against Crystal Palace, and Chelsea were arguably fortunate to come away with a 3-1 win.
Manchester City will claim the Blues were lucky to escape with a point from the Etihad last weekend.
But there was a new steel about Pochettino’s team against the champions. Caicedo was guilty of a clumsy foul but Fernandez gave an outstanding performance that suggested his struggles were finally behind him.
A word here for a Chelsea midfielder not signed for big money.
The Blues resisted the temptation to cash in on homegrown Conor Gallagher in January and he has continued to reward them.
Gallagher’s availability for the first major final of the season, while Liverpool Academy graduate Jones sits it out, may prove crucial.
Pochettino should have all three of his first-choice central midfielders available, while Reds boss Jurgen Klopp will have just one.
And even Mac Allister has looked vulnerable at times this season when he has not had the athleticism of Szoboszlai and/or Jones alongside him.
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A trio of Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch and Mac Allister is weaker than Caicedo-Fernandez-Gallagher.
Sunday is the perfect opportunity for the £100m men to answer their critics by giving Chelsea’s big-spending owners something shiny to show for their investment.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
