Cup win can be platform for Reds, says Henderson

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson wants winning the Carabao Cup to provide a platform for greater success this season.

Jurgen Klopp’s side are still competing on four fronts and tomorrow’s Wembley meeting with Chelsea could open the door to an unprecedented quadruple.

Having secured a first league title in 30 years and the Club World Cup the season after lifting the Reds’ sixth European Cup, Henderson knows how important trophy winning momentum can be.

“I think it is a big moment in the season. To get a trophy so early on in the season can give the squad a big boost,” he said.

“It’s a cup final and one we want to win, so we’ll do absolutely everything to make sure we bring the trophy home.

“We want to use it as a platform to give us a big confidence boost going towards the business end of the season.

“There are some big games coming up and we have to take each game as it comes, as we always do, and see where we are at the end of the season.

“Yes, we are still in all four, but that can change very quickly. Sunday, whether we win or not, that’s done.

“Then the other ones you can be out of it very quickly if you don’t perform very well. I know how quickly football can change.

“At the minute we are in a very good moment and we need to continue on that path right until the end of the season.”

Henderson is the only survivor from the club’s last domestic cup victory in 2012 when, as a 21-year-old, he helped Liverpool beat Cardiff on penalties at Wembley.

Since then he has gone on to become the club’s captain and lift the Champions League and Premier League trophies.

“I never see it as achieving it on my own. I’ve achieved it with great players and managers,” he added.

“Everyone at the club has played their part. I’ve been a very small part of that. It’s been a roller-coaster ride so far, but lots of good moments and lots of good memories in there.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel, meanwhile, has admitted feeling tempted to throw fit-again Reece James straight into the final.

England wing-back James has finally beaten the hamstring tear that has kept him sidelined since Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Brighton at Stamford Bridge on December 29.

Chelsea can boast a fully fit squad barring long-term absentee Ben Chilwell, with Hakim Ziyech and Mateo Kovacic shaking off their injury worries.

Asked if James could be ready for action at Wembley, Tuchel replied: “That’s a very, very good question. Even if I wanted to, I’m not sure if I could answer your question right now.

“He looked brilliant in the last two training sessions, let’s wait another session, and then let’s see if I’m crazy enough to just put him on the pitch or if the reasonable side of me wins in the end and we go for step by step. It would be a huge step, but honestly yesterday and today he looked so strong, so confident, and so, so involved in training that you are tempted to do it.

“Let’s see, we have a little bit of time, and the most important for him and for us is that he’s back and that he feels so confident he can step up to the kind of level he did yesterday and today.”

Champions League holders Chelsea have already lifted the European Super Cup and Club World Cup this term, and will chase a trophy hat-trick at Wembley against Jurgen Klopp’s high-flying Liverpool.

The Blues will be eyeing their first League Cup triumph since 2015, having lost the 2019 final to Manchester City on penalties.