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Liverpool eye ‘special’ League Cup final triumph against Chelsea

Liverpool have their sights on a “special” League Cup triumph in Sunday’s final against Chelsea as Jurgen Klopp reaches the first milestone moment of his long goodbye.

Klopp is in his last season as Liverpool’s manager after the German’s bombshell announcement that he will step down at the end of the current campaign.
Although Klopp is convinced he no longer has the energy to drive Liverpool’s relentless quest for silverware, there has been little sign of the feared decline in his side’s fortunes following his stunning revelation.

Liverpool have won five of their six matches in all competitions, scoring 21 goals in the process, since the 56-year-old revealed his plan to quit.

Extending that hot streak at Wembley this weekend would give Liverpool their first trophy since 2022 when they beat Chelsea in both the FA Cup and League Cup finals.

Klopp has won six major trophies during an iconic nine-year reign and his quadruple-chasing players are desperate to give him a silverware-filled farewell.

As well as this weekend’s date with Chelsea, Liverpool sit four points clear at the top of the Premier League, face Southampton in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday and take on Sparta Prague in the Europa League last 16.

“We want to make it a special day and get our first trophy of the season,” Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said.

“The end of the season will probably be very emotional for a lot of people, including the manager, but we are not there yet.”

Klopp’s assistant Pep Lijnders echoed Van Dijk’s call to make it a day to remember for their boss.

“We’ll go for it. It’s a special game. Special games need special performances so we have to focus on that,” Lijnders said.

Lijnders insisted Klopp was always confident Liverpool’s players would keep their focus after his shock announcement.

“I think you underestimate our squad, the personalities in it,” he said.

“A lot of these boys didn’t win anything with Liverpool yet so of course they give everything despite the manager saying he is leaving. We are stable enough to deal with it.”

Lijnders’ reference to several of Liverpool’s young squad waiting to taste success underscores Klopp’s achievement in rebuilding his team after the pre-season departures of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Roberto Firmino and James Milner among others.

The Reds’ resolve will be tested at Wembley by a mounting injury crisis that leaves them without Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai face late fitness tests.

But taking advantage of Liverpool’s injury woes will be easier said than done for inconsistent Chelsea.

Mauricio Pochettino’s team were one of Liverpool’s victims during their recent goal spree, losing 4-1 at Anfield in January.

Former Tottenham and Southampton boss Pochettino, yet to win a trophy in England, has been under fire from angry Chelsea fans as a troubled season threatens to spiral out of control.

With Chelsea languishing 25 points behind Liverpool in 10th place in the Premier League, a surprise win at Wembley would be a major boost to the Argentine’s job security.

Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly is expected to fly in from the United States to watch the Blues’ first cup final since he and Behdad Eghbali bought the London club from Roman Abramovich in 2022.

Boehly has spent over £1 billion ($1.26 billion) on signings in a failed attempt to recapture the Abramovich glory days.

Pochettino, whose Tottenham side were beaten by Chelsea in the 2015 League Cup final, knows how significant it would be to end the Blues’ wait for a first domestic prize since the 2018 FA Cup.

“It’s a dream for us. We have the opportunity and we’re going to fight. The team is ready and we’re going to be very competitive,” said Pochettino, who has won just one of his 13 meetings with Klopp.

“The team is awake to the competition. There was a click to change in the way we compete, that we were missing in the first half of the season.”

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King Ademola Lookman Brings Out His Love

Like his father opened up, Ademola Lookman is essentially a private person, who prefers to do his stuff without all the media blitz.

But on one of his biggest days, when he was crowned Africa’s best player, he could not but make the first public appearance with the woman in his life – Jayda Love.

‘Adebobo’ would even steal a moment on his big night to kiss his American beau.

The 27-year-old Super Eagles star is still single.

Rumours of this romance first surfaced in the summer when the couple appeared to have spent the holidays together.

This was after ‘Mola’ scored his unforgettable hat-trick for Atalanta to win the UEFA Europa League in super style.

Jayda, an Information Technology specialist is based in Dallas, Texas, graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2021 with a degree in public relations.

She follows Ademola Lookman and his foundation on social media.

She is also known to have visited him at his Italian base.

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FIFA Rankings: Nigeria’s Super Eagles End 2024 Ahead Of Ghana, South Africa, Cameroon

Nigeria’s Super Eagles have ended 2024 ranked as Africa’s fifth-best team in FIFA’s latest global standings, released Thursday morning, Soccernet.ng reports.

Despite a challenging end to the year that saw the team drop eight places to 44th globally, the Super Eagles still managed to hold their own against eternal continental rivals like South Africa, Cameroon, and Ghana.

This year’s ranking represents a mixed bag for Nigeria. While the team retained its fifth spot in Africa, their decline in global rankings was driven by underwhelming performances in key fixtures.

Most notably, the Super Eagles struggled during the final rounds of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, securing just a solitary point in lackluster outings against the Benin Republic and Rwanda.

Nigeria were forced to a scored draw by the Cheetahs in Abidjan only for Samuel Chukwueze’s excellent strike to end up as consolation in a 2-1 home defeat to the Wasps.

Looking at year-to-year standings, at this time in 2023, Nigeria’s Super Eagles were ranked 42nd in the world but sixth on the continent.

Elsewhere, South Africa’s Bafana Bafana showed marked improvement, climbing th

Cameroon and Ghana, however, endured disappointing campaigns. Ghana’s Black Stars finished the year ranked 77th, a stark reminder of the ongoing struggles within the Black Stars setup.

At the continental summit, Morocco retained their status as the continent’s best, finishing as Africa’s top-ranked team in 14th place globally.

Senegal (17th), Egypt (33rd), and Algeria (37th) rounded out the top four, with Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Mali, Tunisia, and South Africa completing the top 10.

Globally, Argentina retained their position as FIFA’s top-ranked team, followed by France, Spain, England, and Brazil.

With 1,181 international matches played across the calendar year, the rankings reflected consistent dominance from the world’s elite teams.

As Nigeria enter 2025, all eyes will be on the Super Eagles to reignite their competitive spark, with the World Cup qualifiers returning in the first quarter of the year.

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Mbappé: Would Have Been ‘Fun’ To Play With Cristiano Ronaldo

Kylian Mbappé has said he wishes he could have played with Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo, the club’s all-time leading scorer.

The France international has been a teammate of other football icons but would have relished playing alongside Ronaldo, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner and Portugal captain.

“I’ve played with great players: Lionel Messi, Neymar, [Antoine] Griezmann, [Paul] Pogba, [Karim] Benzema…” Mbappé told BeINsports.

“It would have been fun to play with Cristiano Ronaldo — it’s going to be very difficult now — but I was lucky enough to play against him, a legend of the sport.”

Ronaldo, 39, left the Spanish giants in 2018 now plays for Saudi Pro-League side Al Nassr.

Mbappé helped Madrid win the Intercontinental Cup on Wednesday, his second title since joining the Spanish giants in the summer after his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expired.

Speaking to young people with disabilities as part of the BeUNITED program, Mbappe, 25, said he would have never left Paris Saint-Germain had it not been to join Madrid.

“I went to the biggest club in the world,” the 2018 World Cup winner said.

“I have always said that it was the only club I would have left PSG for. If I hadn’t been able to go to Madrid, I would have stayed at PSG all my life.”

Although Mbappé has been prolific for Madrid so far, he has faced criticism for his all-round performances with the team having suffered some high-profile defeats earlier in the season.

“Since I was 14, everyone told me I was going to be great,” Mbappé said.

“But when you’re big, sometimes you feel small…At first I was too hungry and it played tricks on me because I was impatient. But I have passion and this competitive side.

“My dream now is to win trophies with my team, not individual awards. What great title is left for me? The Champions League, but I’m in the best club in the world for that.”