Jurgen Klopp admitted that he would rather avoid facing Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
Speaking almost immediately after Liverpool booked their semi-final place by beating Nottingham Forest last night, Klopp assessed the remaining sides contesting the competition.
Who is in the semi-finals?
Liverpool needed a late Diogo Jota winner and some wasteful Forest finishing to ensure their passage to Wembley next month.
They will be met by fellow Premier League title enthusiast Manchester City, who put four past Southampton on Sunday afternoon.
Chelsea make up the other half of the draw, having defeated Middlesbrough 2-0 at the Riverside Stadium.
Thomas Tuchel’s men managed to journey up to North Yorkshire without much difficulty, despite some pre-match travel fears.
Even in the absence of any away fans, the European champions quite comfortably beat their Championship hosts.
Romelu Lukaku scored his third of the tournament, before Hakim Ziyech rounded off the victory, both goals assisted by Mason Mount.
Crystal Palace awaits them in the final four showdown, following their impressive 4-0 demolition of Everton.
Chelsea chasing more trophies
All four clubs are a few hours away from sealing silverware this season, a first for City and Palace, another to add to the collection for Chelsea and Liverpool.
Patrick Vieira’s group enter the closing stages as the underdogs, applying more pressure on the three European heavyweights.
At least two of them will not make it to the show-piece event on the 14th of May, with Klopp well aware of the task standing before him.
“The closer you get to the end the more likely it is that you will face City, if you don’t face them earlier you will face them in any kind of semi-final or final,” admitted the German manager.
“That’s the same with Chelsea! You don’t want to play against them every week, because they are really strong as well.
“But I don’t think it’s a pure joy to play us either.”
The Blues and the Reds have already faced each other three times this term, with each encounter more enthralling than the last.
They played out two draws in the league, with the 2-2 at Stamford Bridge particularly entertaining.
Then, Liverpool just edged out the Carabao Cup final, following 120 minutes of controlled madness and a penalty shootout.
Will it be Chelsea’s turn to wreak revenge? Get past Palace first and then we can start dreaming.
Keep up to date with all the latest Chelsea news and opinion by following The Chelsea Chronicle’s Facebook and Twitter accounts
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
