The perfect seven days for Liverpool FC

Wins in three different competitions for Jurgen Klopp’s side provides the Reds with every opportunity of still winning the quadruple come the end of the season.

Last week saw Liverpool face Leeds United at Anfield for the rearranged Premier League encounter that was due to be played on Boxing Day.

A win against a Leeds side that were missing a number of key players in Kalvin Philips and Patrick Bamford would see the gap to Manchester City at the top of the league table cut to just three points, with the sides still to play each other at the Etihad Stadium in April.

Of the three games in seven days against Leeds, Chelsea (Carabao Cup Final), and Norwich City in the (FA Cup 5th Round), getting the three points against Marcelo Bielsa’s side was the most important assignment for most Liverpool fans.

On the night, a rampant Liverpool side saw the hosts come away with a comfortable 6-0 victory. A solo run from Joel Matip the goal of the game. An injury-time header from Virgil Van Dijk capped off a brilliant performance after a brace from both Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane.

The win closed the gap on Pep Guardiola’s side, setting the perfect platform heading into a trip to the capital for the cup final against Chelsea at Wembley.

What a game that would go on to be!

Coming away from the final both fans and media alike were in almost unanimous agreement it was “One of the best 0-0 for a long time” which saw Liverpool win their first domestic cup for 16 years and their ninth league cup.

The term ‘edge of your seat action’ could not be more accurate for how the regulation 90 minutes panned out. It was Chelsea who started the better of the two sides, forcing Caoimhin Kelleher into a stunning reflex save to deny Christian Pulisic from close range in the opening minutes.

Following the early scare, the Reds settled into the game with January signing Luis Diaz causing havoc for Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah.

With Kelleher called into action early in the game, this time it was Edouard Mendy who made an unbelievable double save to keep Mane’s effort out when it looked almost certain that he would break the deadlock.

As Liverpool pushed for the opening goal, Thomas Tuchel’s team caught them on the counter-attack. Kai Harvetz fed Mason Mount in the middle but thankfully for Jurgen Klopp’s side , the pass was slightly behind the midfielder who couldn’t direct his effort on target.

It was Mount again at the start of the second half who found himself in on goal, but it was a similar outcome as the 23-year-old failed to hit the target with his effort coming back off the post and away to safety.

Liverpool thought they had made Chelsea rue their missed opportunities with 20 minutes remaining. A free-kick to the back post from Trent Alexander-Arnold was headed back across goal by Mane to a free Matip who thought he had given his side the lead. After a lengthy delay, the goal was ruled out for offside.

Chelsea thought they had won the game themselves in the dying stages, but they also saw their goal ruled out for offside sending the game into extra time.

In extra time, Romelu Lukaku thought he had scored, but the former Manchester United and Everton striker also saw his goal ruled out for offside by the narrowest of margins. For the third time in the game, Chelsea had the ball in the back of the net through Havertz, but yet again it was ruled out for offside, which sent the game into the dreaded penalty shootout.

What happened next provided both sets of fans with almost every emotion possible – nervousness, joy and heartbreak. It really had it all!

With 120 minutes of football played, the only thing the game lacked was goals, but in this penalty shootout the players couldn’t stop scoring. The pick of the penalties was an outrageous panenka from Fabinho, who showed tremendous courage to pull off such an effort on a huge stage.

With the first five players from each side all scoring their penalties the shootout went into sudden death.

Having won both coin tosses, Liverpool found themselves taking the first penalty and shooting towards their own fans. Each time the Reds scored it put the pressure back on Chelsea, but it didn’t stop The Blues from scoring themselves making the score 10-10 with the goalkeepers up next.

Kelleher stepped up and dispatched his penalty putting all the pressure on Kepa Arrizabalaga – who had been brought on by Tuchel in the last minute of extra time due to having a better penalty saving record than Mendy.

But the substitution ultimately cost Tuchel who saw Kepa’s penalty rise high over the crossbar and into the celebrating Liverpool fans handing the Reds an 11-10 penalty shootout victory. Cue the team and fans celebrating together to ‘One kiss’ from Dua Lipa.

The celebrations were short-lived with Norwich at Anfield in the FA Cup just three days later. A win in the fifth-round tie against the Canaries would see Klopp reach the FA Cup Quarterfinals for the first time.

A much-changed Reds side saw the likes of Takumi Minamino, Divock Origi and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain take to the field. But it was some Minamino magic in the cup once again that saw his brace help Liverpool progress to the next round with a 2-1 victory.

The win and progression to the next round capped off a perfect seven days for Jurgen Klopp’s team that saw three wins in three different competitions, and the dream of winning a possible quadruple still kept very much alive.

West Ham United are the visitors to Anfield on Saturday night in the Premier League as Liverpool continue to attempt to keep the pressure on Manchester City in the title race.

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