As far as league seasons go, neither Chelsea or Liverpool have been particularly fruitful. Chelsea sits forlorn in 6th with only an outside shot of playing in next year's Champion's League provided and only provided that both Tottenham and Newcastle lose both their remaining matches and Chelsea win both of theirs. Liverpool have no hope of even qualifying for the Europa League based on league position but will do so anyway because of their Carling Cup win.
This FA Cup Final is therefore a chance for both sides to redeem their seasons and curiously both of them are still chasing their own doubles. Chelsea will be looking to beat both Liverpool for an FA Cup and Champions' League double, whilst Liverpool will be hoping to claim both domestic cups.
On paper you'd assume that Chelsea would have the wood over Liverpool by virtue of having a Russian Billionaire Oil Sugar Daddy to outspend everyone bar Man United and Man City, FA Cups aren't played on paper though but by 22 players, green grass and a football.
Liverpool I think will be going into this fixture more desperate than Chelsea because for them, this really is the last throw of the dice this season. After this match, apart from a league fixture also against Chelsea and another against Swansea, which are both pretty well much irrelevant now as they are fixed in mid-table mediocrity, there is nothing else to play for.
Chelsea on the other hand still have a Champions' League Final against Bayern Munich to look forward to and whilst that isn't for another fortnight (May 19), I bet that the bean counters upstairs will still tell the management to be a bit more circumspect about selecting players.
Curiously both Roberto Di Matteo and Kenny Dalglish are former played for the clubs they now manage. Neither of them need any reminder of the history of the shirts out on the pitch.
Ultimately this match will come down to whether or not the respective clubs' "Wizards of Wembley" can pull something magic from their hats. Didier Drogba and Luis Suarez will be the gamebreakers if this match isn't going to end in a disappointingly dour nil-all which this match has the potential to do.
I think that this match is too close to call, but as always I'd like to see a Liverpool win. So I'd like to see a 2-0 win with goals to Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll.
Addenda:
José Enrique's defending mistake on Chelsea's Ramires cost a goal 11 minutes in; Didier Drogba put the ball through Martin Skrtel's legs to get Chelsea's second and despite a fightback and a goal by Andy Carroll, Chelsea did enough to hold out Liverpool and win 2-1.
Liverpool did play more desperate football towards the end of the match but two critical and frankly dumb mistakes at the beginning, gifted Chelsea a well deserved win.
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