"They are cup specialists" - Jurgen Klopp praises Chelsea ahead of FA Cup final

Jurgen Klopp has praised Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea side ahead of Saturday's FA Cup final.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow's FA Cup final against Chelsea, as cited by Anfield Watch's Twitter account, Klopp said that it is going to be extremely difficult to play against 'cup specialists'.

"They are cup specialists," said Klopp. "They won it often but we want to give it a proper try. That is the plan. We are really desperate to win it but we know our opponent does as well.

"Chelsea is a really really well-coached team. They play a similar system to other teams but they are on another level. Organised defensively - offensively talented, different options. Werner, Havertz, Lukaku, Pulisic.

"We have no idea how they will line up. It is very interesting to prepare for. It is a final. It would be really surprising if we were to meet a weak team. We want the full prize."

Anfield Watch Verdict

In recent years Chelsea have constantly reached the FA Cup final. Since 2017 they've reached four of the last five FA Cup finals, not including this season. However, they've only managed to win one of those.

If they lose on Saturday then that would mean they've lost five out of the last six FA Cup finals they've been in. Yes, they're specialists in reaching the final, not so much in winning those finals though.

Tuchel's side also lost their most recent final too, against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup. Yes, it was on penalties but it's still another final loss on their record.

Liverpool are going into this game as confident as a club can be. They've reached a Champions League final and are still on for the quadruple if Manchester City mess up in the league.

Meanwhile, since being knocked out of the Champions League final by Real Madrid, Tuchel's side have been lacking confidence, dropping points to Everton and Manchester United in recent weeks.

Hopefully the Reds can take advantage of this poor form and comfortably beat Chelsea, collecting their second trophy of the season.