Jamie Carragher feels that Chelsea’s performance against Manchester City will provide them with belief going into next weekend’s Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side produced a spirited performance away to City and took the lead through Raheem Sterling before Rodri equalised, with the game finishing 1-1.
Although Chelsea weren’t able to take all three points, Liverpool legend Carragher believes that the Blues will now be full of confidence as they prepare the clash at Wembley.
Despite that, though, Carragher feels that his former club will have ‘the edge’.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Carragher said: ‘Chelsea had to take something from the game into the cup final. You had to build some belief.
Jamie Carragher says Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea will take belief from their 1-1 draw
However, Carragher believes that Liverpool will still have the edge in the Carabao Cup final
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‘Playing away at Man City is a tougher game than playing Liverpool at Wembley. Liverpool’s injuries as well, I think it will be a tight game. I think Liverpool will just have the edge.’
As Carragher alluded to, Liverpool have a host of injury issues to contend with, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson amongst those who are sidelined.
Chelsea have lacked consistency this season but Pochettino was delighted with how his team performed at the Etihad Stadium, especially in the first half.
Pochettino said: ‘Really good performance, very pleased. That is the spirt we want to show. We’re working for that. We need to feel very proud.
‘First half was really good. We were very aggressive with the ball. The performance was good, we didn’t concede too much. We created a few chances in the second half that we should score. I am so happy.’
Commenting specifically on the game against Liverpool, Pochettino referred to Jurgen Klopp’s side as ‘the second best team in the world’, just behind City. The Chelsea boss stated that his team now have momentum ahead of that game.
He said: ‘We decided to not to give too much space to City. It’s really important now with the momentum. We need to feel that it’s possible to beat Liverpool. We’re going to face the second best team in the world, very close to Man City. The belief is the most important thing.’
Although Chelsea have had some difficult moments, they have an excellent chance to win silverware next weekend and will now have increased belief that they can overcome Liverpool.
Raheem Sterling was on the scoresheet for Chelsea against one of his old clubs in City