When Liverpool head to Wembley at the end of the month for the League Cup final, they will do so with a score to settle.
The Reds’ domestic cup record has been poor under Jurgen Klopp. There is no escaping that and the German admitted as much as recently as last week when previewing his side’s FA Cup fourth round clash with Cardiff City.
But despite what his critics might claim, it isn’t for a lack of trying. Gone are the early days of Klopp’s reign when he recalled a plethora of youth players from loan spells to field a mismatch of a side in domestic cup competition.
For the majority, Liverpool have seen their domestic runs ended by top-flight opposition.
In the League Cup, they lost to Man City on penalties in the final in 2015/16 before being knocked out by Southampton in the semi-finals the following year.
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Successive third round exits to Leicester City and Chelsea followed in 2017/18 and 2018/19, before THAT fifth round loss to Aston Villa, while penalties were again their undoing last season when they lost to Arsenal.
Meanwhile in the FA Cup, a last-minute extra-time winner in a replay saw them knocked out by West Ham in the fourth round in 2015/16, before Klopp's only loss to lower-league opposition came in 2016/17 when Wolves won away at Anfield in the fourth round. They would win promotion to the top-flight the following year.
West Bromwich Albion won at Anfield in the fourth round in 2017/18 in a controversial VAR-ridden match, before now top-flight Wolves beat them in the third round in 2018/19.
As for the last two seasons, their efforts ended at Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford in the fifth and fourth rounds respectively.
And with their squad suitably strengthened since returning to the Champions League in 2017/18, their starting XIs which have exited cup competitions have been littered with Premier League and European champions, accompanied by only one or two youngsters.
The only exception is a defeat to Aston Villa, where Liverpool were forced to play twice in two days, with a FIFA Club World Cup semi-final against Monterrey in Qatar scheduled the day after their League Cup trip to Villa Park.
Sending Klopp’s first team out to the Middle East, a squad of Under-18s fell to a 5-0 defeat against Aston Villa and Liverpool were heavily criticised for sacrificing the League Cup at the time.
The Reds would return home as world champions but with their League Cup campaign over, having seen the opportunity for that particular piece of domestic silverware ripped from their grasp.
Now their squad of English, European and world champions they have an opportunity to finish what they couldn’t in 2019/20.
Any suggestion Klopp doesn't care about domestic cup competitions is an outdated myth.
He might favour Premier League and Champions League glory, as would any manager and player, but again, like any manager or player he wants to win every match and every trophy possible.
And it will not be lost on them that their opponents, Chelsea, have been spared the same dilemma they were forced to face two years ago.
Thomas Tuchel’s side are currently in Abu Dhabi for this season’s FIFA Club World Cup, having won the Champions League last year and face Al-Hilal in the semi-finals of the tournament this afternoon.
Their participation has not forcibly come at the expense of any domestic cup participation, with Chelsea impressively currently competing on five fronts, having already won the European Super Cup back in August.
If anything, this should give Liverpool an extra hunger to win the League Cup this season, given how their hands were tied two years ago in a way other sides have managed to avoid.
Criticism continues to fall the Reds’ way even now, over two years later, regarding their Aston Villa loss and FIFA Club World Cup participation, even though how events unfolded were beyond their control as FIFA and the EFL laid out their fixture demands.
And as Chelsea prepare for their own FIFA Club World Cup action, their former defender Jason Cundy took the opportunity to hit out at Liverpool’s previous decision on TalkSPORT.
“It’s a bit of a glorified Super Cup (and) Community Shield type of thing,” he said earlier this week. “It's one of those, when you win it it's "Best club in the world." No you're not. That's not how it works.
“Liverpool placed a lot of importance on it last year because they don't win many trophies. That's a fact, that's the truth. And they sacrificed the League Cup.
“I would rather win the League Cup than the Club World Cup. But once you're in it, you want to win it. It's a trophy, you want to take it. But personally I think it's a bit of an annoyance.”
You wonder if he’ll be as dismissive if Chelsea win the competition this month.
It’s not a ‘glorified Super Cup’, it’s a legitimate tournament as opposed to a one-off game between the champions of each continental competition.
It’s the most exclusive prize there is, given European sides have to win the Champions League to be able to even take part.
You win it, you are the best club in the world. That is exactly how it works. The same way as Chelsea are currently the best club in Europe after winning the Champions League. You can’t dispute that.
And while English fans might look down on the honour, they certainly don’t in the likes of South America. It’s partly why FIFA are expanding the tournament to feature 24 teams, so the prize can hold the acclaim its name deserves.
Liverpool placed importance on it because they had to take part and had never won it before. Upon arrival in Qatar, they were two games away from being crowned champions of the world.
That will always trump a League Cup quarter-final if put in a position, like the Reds were, where it was impossible to compete for both.
Yet Cundy’s next claim is the most laughable of all. Liverpool ‘don’t win many trophies’. They are the most successful side in English football.
That’s a fact. That’s the truth.
Since Klopp took over at Anfield in 2015, they have won four trophies. In that same period, Chelsea have won five.
Let us remember they were reigning champions when the German arrived on these shores and that one of their five honours was the Europa League, as opposed to them exclusively competing for silverware at the highest level.
Both Liverpool and Chelsea have a hunger for winning. Once a trophy is in their sights, of course they want to in it, no matter what it is. Once you win one trophy, you want to win two, then three and four and so on.
That’s how it is, that’s what sets the best players and serial winners apart.
Chelsea won’t be annoyed by competing in the FIFA Club World Cup, they’ll want to be crowned world champions. The same as Liverpool did two years ago.
Cundy knows full well his beloved former club are just two games from such a crown.
That’s why he’s digging out Liverpool as opposed to Chelsea when questioning the competition’s credentials, not wanting to fully write off a trophy he and his fellow supporters could well soon be celebrating.
The only thing annoying is his boring dismissal of the tournament and criticism of the Reds in the process.
And while he might well rather prefer to see Chelsea win the League Cup than the FIFA Club World Cup, let’s just hope that come the end of the month, Liverpool have stopped Tuchel’s side from making Cundy’s wish a reality.
