Liverpool hold a significant psychological advantage over Man City - but it doesn't count yet

There was a slightly smaller Premier League calendar this weekend owing to two rather important FA Cup semi final fixtures - namely Manchester City vs Liverpool and Chelsea vs Crystal Palace.

Jurgen Klopp saw his side rather spectacularly beat Pep Guardiola's expensively assembled side 3-2 at Wembley on Saturday afternoon, and with Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea expectedly triumphing over Patrick Vieira's improved Crystal Palace side in Sunday's early evening clash - the script has written itself for another intriguing Wembley Final this year.

It is not just the natural domestic rivalry between both sides that will be at stake on Saturday May 14.  Klopp has already bested his German compatriot in one final this year, following the penalty victory Liverpool secured back in February's League Cup clash, so Chelsea and Tuchel will definitely have revenge on the cards - added to the fact that both domestic league encounters ended in draws as well this season.

Chelsea will also be looking to actually win an FA Cup final having been defeated in three of their last four attempts - and having lost for the last two years on the trot to both Arsenal in 2019/20 and Leicester City in 2020/21.  Their fans will definitely be hoping it is third time lucky on the hallowed turf, as three straight FA Cup final defeats would be hard for any set of supporters to swallow, but you would get good odds from the likes of SportNation for that third defeat to happen - especially given the turmoil surrounding Chelsea at the moment.

Given the German heritage of both managers and the game being a repeat of the League Cup clash, the press are absolutely certain to turn this into a media circus where Klopp and Tuchel are centre stage - especially with the latter replacing the former at Borussia Dortmund seven years ago.

For Liverpool fans, that media circus will be a small distracting sideshow though as their eyes will be lazer pointed on seeing whether or not Klopp can drive the squad to a potentially historic quadruple.  Having already lifted the League Cup, clearly The Reds have to be considered favourites for the FA Cup, but they can also keep their Champions League hopes alive with the end of April first leg semi final clash with Spanish La Liga side Villareal and that brings us nicely to the domestic Premier League campaign.

With 31 matches played so far in the 2021/22 campaign, Liverpool are second in the league, sitting only a solitary point behind reigning Premier League champions Manchester City and with seven games remaining in the season, Klopp's talented first teamers are in the perfect position to do exactly what he has called for, which is to be 'as annoying as possible' as they continue to chase City down, looking to ensure they win their games in order to take advantage of an inevitable slip up from the Manchester side.

Whether or not the domestic title battle goes down to the final day of action, remains to be seen and is definitely open for debate, but having got under Pep's skin this weekend it will either embolden his players to demand more from themselves, or go the other way and further add an element of doubt to their credentials for holding the title.