Mauricio Pochettino insists Chelsea are not affected by recent cup final defeats, ahead of this weekend’s Carabao Cup decider with Liverpool.
Chelsea take on Liverpool at Wembley on Sunday as the two teams go head-to-head for major silverware once again.
The west Londoners have a poor recent record in cup finals, however, having lost their last five showpieces at Wembley.
That run includes two defeats to Liverpool, after losing the FA Cup and League Cup deciders to the Reds in 2021/22. Pochettino, however, is unconcerned and insists history will play no part at the weekend.
“A final starts and finishes but that’s it. You store it on the bus,” he said at his pre-match press conference.
“Never has reference to this final will translate to his final. It’s history. Of course people pay attention. But us, when we are preparing are not thinking what happened one year ago, two years ago and three years ago.
Chelsea’s squad has undergone mass change since the 2021/22 and Pochettino believes it will be beneficial that his team do not have scars from past defeats.
“Yes. It’s possibly a good thing to not be affected by the past and in another way, they need experience to play finals. Always it’s about the capacity to manage the game, but the preparation and the time you arrive.”
This weekend’s opponents head into the final with a wealth of injury problems, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota and Alisson among those confirmed to be out. Pochettino sympathised with the predicament of Liverpool given Chelsea’s own injury issues this season.
“Yes. I understand always. I never like to see your opponent, or teams, suffer with injured players and of course we empathise. I think we understand because we were dealing from the beginning.
“It’s difficult, I understand. Always in the middle when the dynamic is positive. If you suffer some injuries, always you can manage because the dynamic is positive and you can find solution that can work easy. But when it’s from the beginning, it’s always to try to chase the rabbit. I understand, the circumstance are maybe not easy today for the opponent, but competition is the competition. We cannot blame or complain. the players are going to compete. Liverpool is going to be Liverpool.”
