THE TWO teams that line-up at Wembley for the 2022 FA Cup final may bear little resemblance to some of the selections that have got Chelsea and Liverpool to this stage. Between them, they have used 58 players on route to the final and names like Mo Salah, Kai Havertz and Sadio Mané have barely featured. One of the complaints about the Premier League’s big clubs is they rarely field full-strength sides in the FA Cup, and in doing so, they effectively cheapen the world’s oldest knockout competition.
But here’s a solution. Why not insist on FA Cup squads being named before the start of round three? From the team’s entry point, they will have to name their 11 from that list. This way, teams like Liverpool and Chelsea will only be able to use the players they have selected on the way to Wembley. There would be no scope to bring in the top names after the squad has worked its way through five rounds.
Going by the appearances made in the Cup, the two teams should look something like this:
Chelsea – Mendy, Rüdiger, Sarr, Christensen, Azpilicueta, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek, Ziyech, Mount, Lukaku and Werner.
Liverpool – Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konaté, Van Dijk, Tsmikas, Keita, Fabinho, Jones, Jota, Firmino and Minamino.
Of course, the final choices made by Jürgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel will be very different and more in keeping with the two sides’ first eleven, but these players were among the most selected from the third round to the semi-finals.
Whoever makes the team, Chelsea versus Liverpool is a game that rarely disappoints, but both managers have very clear agendas. For Tuchel, it is his side’s last chance of a trophy in 2021-22 after some recent disappointments. The club is in a state of flux at the moment after the departure of Roman Abramovich and the pending takeover by an American consortium. It is the end of an era for Chelsea and Tuchel will want to impress his new paymasters.
| Winners | Final | |
| 1914 | LFC – lost to Burnley 0-1 | |
| 1915 | CFC – lost to Sheffield United 0-3 | |
| 1950 | LFC – lost to Arsenal 0-2 | |
| 1965 | LFC – beat Leeds 2-1 | |
| 1967 | CFC – lost to Tottenham 1-2 | |
| 1970 | CFC – beat Leeds 2-1 after 2-2 draw | |
| 1971 | LFC – lost to Arsenal 1-2 | |
| 1974 | LFC – beat Newcastle United 3-0 | |
| 1977 | LFC – lost to Manchester Utd 1-2 | |
| 1986 | LFC – beat Everton 3-1 | |
| 1988 | LFC – lost to Wimbledon 0-1 | |
| 1989 | LFC – beat Everton 3-2 | |
| 1992 | LFC – beat Sunderland 2-0 | |
| 1994 | CFC – lost to Manchester Utd 0-4 | |
| 1996 | LFC – lost to Manchester Utd 0-1 | |
| 1997 | CFC – beat Middlesbrough 2-0 | |
| 2000 | CFC – beat Aston Villa 1-0 | |
| 2001 | LFC – beat Arsenal 2-1 | |
| 2002 | CFC – lost to Arsenal 0-2 | |
| 2006 | LFC – drew 3-3 with West Ham, won on pens | |
| 2007 | CFC – beat Manchester Utd 1-0 | |
| 2009 | CFC – beat Everton 2-1 | |
| 2010 | CFC – beat Portsmouth 1-0 | |
| 2012 | CFC – beat Liverpool 2-1 | LFC – lost to Chelsea 1-2 |
| 2017 | CFC – lost to Arsenal 1-2 | |
| 2018 | CFC – beat Manchester Utd 1-0 | |
| 2020 | CFC – lost to Arsenal 1-2 | |
| 2021 | CFC – lost to Leicester 0-1 |
It could have been so much better for the Blues in 2021-22. They started the campaign well enough and topped the table, but their season lost momentum as time passed. There’s no denying their statement signing, Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan, hasn’t worked out, not least because he has seemed quite misaligned to the Tuchel style. While the sale of the club signals the end of a glorious phase that began in 2003, there is the air of a team approaching transition, with a number of players likely to depart in the summer. Chelsea were last title contenders five years ago but they remain a compelling cup team – this will be their fourth FA Cup final in five years, but tellingly, they have won just one of the four (2018 against Manchester United in a quite dire 90 minutes).
Chelsea’s form has declined in recent weeks, although they looked more like their early season selves when they beat Leeds United 3-0 at Elland Road, their last game before the final. But in nine games, Chelsea have picked up 14 points and since the turn of the year, they have won eight of 16 Premier League games and lost four. In their first 20, they won 12 and lost twice.
Liverpool’s form since the start of 2022 has been irresistible and this is why they will be favourites to win the trophy. They have won 13 of their 16 Premier games and drawn three times. The narrative has been all about a mythical quadruple, but it is looking like they will miss out on the Premier to Manchester City. They have already won the EFL Cup, beating Chelsea in the final on penalties, and they face Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final in Paris. Their season may not end with four pieces of silver, but will still be memorable.
| Chelsea | Round | Liverpool | ||
| Chesterfield Town H | W5-1 | 3 | Shrewsbury Town H | W4-1 |
| Plymouth Argyle H | W2-1 | 4 | Cardiff City H | W3-1 |
| Luton Town A | W3-2 | 5 | Norwich City H | W2-1 |
| Middlesbrough A | W2-0 | 6 | Nottingham Forest A | W1-0 |
| Crystal Palace N | W2-0 | SF | Manchester City N | W3-2 |
Liverpool have not won the FA Cup since 2006 when they overcame West Ham United on penalties. Over the past decade, they have suffered some surprise defeats, such as in 2013 when Oldham Athletic beat them, as well as assorted losses against Aston Villa, Wolves and West Bromwich Albion. Interestingly, in the club’s golden period that spanned the 1970s and 1980s, the FA Cup was never the piece prize most associated with Liverpool. They won it in 1974, Bill Shankly’s last major prize, and then didn’t lift the Cup again until 1986.
Under Jürgen Klopp, Liverpool have won the Premier League (2020), the Champions League (2019) and EFL Cup (2022). Winning the FA Cup will complete the domestic sweep for the popular German. Klopp has managed Liverpool 18 times against Chelsea in major games, winning six and losing four. Eight draws include the two Premier games this season.
Chelsea’s record against Liverpool in the FA Cup is good, seven wins in 11 meetings and has included some notable matches. In 1966, Tommy Docherty’s side won 2-1 at Anfield in the third round, the first match in Liverpool’s defence of the cup. And then there was a landmark tie in 1978 when Chelsea’s young team won 4-2 against the European champions, with Clive Walker running Liverpool’s defence ragged. Four years later, as a mid-table second division outfit, Chelsea repeated the trick by winning 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. More recently, Chelsea beat Liverpool 2-1 in the 2012 final, with Ramires and Didier Drogba scoring for the Blues and Andy Carroll netting for Kenny Dalglish’s men.
It would be nice to think the final will see two teams going hell for leather to win the FA Cup in this 150th anniversary year. The competition has come a long way since 1871-72, but equally, it is a considerable distance from its heyday. It deserves to regain some of its lustre.
GAME OF THE PEOPLE 