Alan Shearer has warned Chelsea about the form of Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker as the two teams prepare to face each other in next month's FA Cup final at Wembley. The Blues will go head-to-head with the Reds in a repeat of February's Carabao Cup final, which Liverpool won via a dramatic penalty shootout.
Liverpool are still chasing an unprecedented quadruple, having already won the Carabao Cup. Jurgen Klopp's side are second in the Premier League, into the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League and have now booked their place in the final of the FA Cup.
One man who has been a key figure throughout this season is goalkeeper Alisson. The Brazil international was in fine form for the Reds on Saturday as they beat Manchester City 3-2 to secure a spot in next month's FA Cup final.
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After the game, Shearer was quick to point out Alisson's importance in Liverpool's win at Wembley. "Liverpool were certainly gifted one goal and I think the goalkeeper should have done better with the other two as well," Shearer said on BBC Sport.
"Big decisions from Jurgen Klopp in terms of his team selection have helped win the game because there’s no doubt he played his number one goalkeeper. Manchester City didn’t and, ultimately, their goalkeeper has made mistakes which have cost them. Alisson in that second half, pulled off two very good saves – one, the one-on-one from [Gabriel] Jesus, was superb and that’s what’s turned out to be the difference."
It wasn't a one-off, either. Alisson produced a superb display in Liverpool's Champions League quarter-final second-leg clash with Benfica last week. After the game, Benfica forward and reported Chelsea target Darwin Nunez raved about the Reds goalkeeper. Nunez said: "That Alisson save? That was incredible. I swear to you, I saw the ball going in.. and then it wasn't."
Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel was asked about the possibility of taking revenge against Liverpool next month after losing the Carabao Cup final earlier in the season, but he was quick to play that sort of talk down. "We lost, of course, the final. We gave everything in that final as you know, it was a big match that went until the very last penalty," he said.
"Of course, we were unlucky and lost it. We want to turn things around. It will not give us the Carabao Cup title back but we are here and were here last season in the FA Cup final and that means an unbelievable lot to us.
"It's the FA Cup, the most prestigious, most traditional cup in the world and played at Wembley. There are not a lot of bigger games to be part of and it's why we are grateful and we will be well prepared.
"We play against one of the strongest teams in the world which are in outstanding form given their results. So it will be a tough one and we will try to make life hard for them."
