Steven Gerrard will lead Liverpool out at Cardiff tomorrow, hoping to
bring his total of League Cup medals to three. He’s also fully aware
how important his own role will be at the Millennium Stadium: "Chelsea
play three in midfield, it is their big strength with Lampard at the
centre of things and they control games from there and feed their
excellent front players. That is how they have worked all season so it
is important that come Sunday we dominate midfield because that will
have a big, big say in the outcome."
Gerrard feels that there may be a kick in the tail of a Chelsea
team hurt by two successive cup defeats. He said, "Chelsea are a good
side and they could be like a wounded animal after what has happened to
them. I just hope it is not against us but they save the backlash for
the week after. But their confidence may well be a bit down after two
defeats in a week and people will say it is a good time to play them.
But a good side usually bounces back after being beaten once, and
certainly after two defeats. It doesn’t matter what has happened to
Chelsea in the past week, we are still the underdogs. That puts a lot
more pressure on Chelsea which is what we like.
"If you look at the table it shows they are more consistent than us,
but come the final all that goes out of the window. It’s a one-off game
and whoever plays the best will control the game."
Gerrard has been made captain since his last winner’s medal, and is
hoping to get the chance to lift the trophy. "I have been at Liverpool
since I was eight and I have always dreamed of playing in cup finals,
and to be the captain makes it that extra special. Now I am looking for
a good team performance and then I will be lifting the trophy come
Sunday afternoon. Cardiff has been a great place for us, we have won
all our important finals there and the fans love the place. Those fans
have proved to be the best in the business and they love going to
Cardiff and I hope they will see the victory they want."
And Liverpool fans are hoping that it’s the start of what’s needed to bring success in other competitions.