Liverpool midfielder Fabinho had to be substituted with an injury in the first half of their Premier League clash with Aston Villa on Tuesday and with just days to go until the Wembley clash, it will leave Jurgen Klopp sweating on the fitness of one of his stars.
The Reds are still fighting for four trophies this season, although they face an uphill battle in the Premier League. Nevertheless, Klopp chose to rest Mohamed Salah and Thiago ahead of the cup final. He may now wish that he had done the same with Fabinho, who limped out of the action with the scores level at 1-1 after just 30 minutes.
Fabinho's impact on Liverpool cannot be overstated. The Brazilian is a crucial presence, adding solidity to the midfield and protection to the defence as the Reds' attacking talents run riot. It is a quality not lost on Klopp either.
"If you want to win it because you are the better team you need stability, and we had no stability, couldn’t have, that’s the situation. How good Fabinho is? The quality he has is absolutely incredible," Klopp said back in January.
"You saw last night but he’s not a machine because the last two games now – not that he played all the other games that he played against Chelsea like on the same level – we are all human beings.
"If he is at his best, and is in the centre of that pitch, yes that’s then very, very helpful because then you can think about a lot of other things. You can organise your protection completely different because you can rely on different things."
Chelsea are facing a number of injury concerns themselves ahead of Saturday's final. Jorginho, N'Golo Kante and Callum Hudson-Odoi are all among those facing a race to be fit.
