Liverpool continues its quest for silverware at Craven Cottage on Wednesday night as Fulham stands in the way of a place in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley. Jürgen Klopp’s side won the first leg 2-1 but will have to be at their best to finish the job off.
Victory would be the perfect start of a trophy push, with Liverpool remaining firmly in the mix in four competitions. Sunday’s win at Bournemouth extended the lead at the top to five points and made it 14 matches unbeaten.
Manchester City do have a game in hand and the title race looks set to go right down to the wire, with Liverpool fans strapping themselves in for another thrilling end to the season. Unsurprisingly, a number of pundits are having their say on where the title will end up, with Arsenal, Tottenham and Aston Villa still in the mix.
But it is Klopp’s men who sit pretty at the top right now and it will take something special to knock Liverpool off its stride. Here are the two Liverpool.com stories from today that you shouldn’t miss, starting with a warning to Klopp from Paul Merson ahead of a tricky run of fixtures.
Paul Merson sends title warning to Liverpool
Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has claimed Liverpool’s title hopes could be over after its next two Premier League matches. Liverpool now faces cup games against Fulham and Norwich before hosting Chelsea and travelling to Arsenal, and Merson says those two matches will define Liverpool’s season.
He told Sky Sports: “I’ve always said Liverpool will be there at the end of the season. It just has loads of forwards — five of them in fact — and they all score goals. The difference between City, Liverpool and Arsenal is City can go for 10 wins in a row and nobody will pay any attention to it.
If Liverpool and Arsenal do it, it’s a big thing. And it could all be over for Liverpool in the title race in one week. They play Chelsea at home — you have no idea which Chelsea is going to turn up. Chelsea can play, so that’s a hard game. Then Liverpool go Arsenal away, and if it goes like the way the FA Cup game went then Arsenal will win that game. Before you know it, it’s all over for Liverpool.” Read more on Merson’s title prediction and warning to Jürgen Klopp.
Midfield plan works out perfectly
As Jürgen Klopp got to work on his Liverpool midfield revamp, a move for then-Brighton star Moisés Caicedo was launched. Liverpool submitted a bid of $141m (£111m/€130m) as Caicedo faced a tough decision on his next step.
A move to Anfield appeared the smarter option given the uncertainty and upheaval at Chelsea but Caicedo opted to head for Stamford Bridge. It is a deal that hasn’t worked out.
The Ecuadorian has hardly hit the ground running, with Chelsea only ninth in the Premier League despite its recent revival. Liverpool, meanwhile, has flourished without him.
Former teammate Alexis Mac Allister, who has emerged as an alternative in the deeper role, delivered arguably his best Liverpool performance at Bournemouth on Sunday. Fellow new boys Wataru Endō, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch have all impressed too and Caicedo hasn’t been missed. You can read Matt Addison’s view of the failed transfer here — and why he got his initial prediction wrong, with Klopp’s midfield plan working out perfectly.
