Chelsea vs Liverpool LIVE: FA Cup final result, final score and reaction as Liverpool win penalty shootout

Ibrahima Konate has admitted he could not have dreamt of being part of the extraordinary and historic season Liverpool are enjoying.

The defender, who signed from RB Leipzig last summer, is set to mark his first year at Anfield with an appearance in the FA Cup final as Liverpool continue their quest for the quadruple.

Konate has already played at Wembley twice, converting his penalty in the Carabao Cup final shootout win over Chelsea and opening the scoring in the FA Cup semi-final victory over Manchester City.

The 23-year-old has also played in every minute of the Champions League quarter- and semi-finals, scoring in each leg against Benfica in the last eight.

And he said: “Never at any moment in my life could I have imagined this. I knew I was joining a very big club, a club that has set out to win things, titles and trophies. But this season has been exceptional, a historic one for the club and it’s hard to put into words. It’s super exciting to be a part of.”

Liverpool have lifted the FA Cup seven times, the last coming in 2006, while they last appeared in the final in 2012 – losing 2-1 to Chelsea.

This will be the Reds’ 15th FA Cup final and of the previous 14, eight have been goalless at half-time. They have also won three of their four finals that have gone to extra-time, losing only to Arsenal in 1971.

Liverpool are aiming to become only the fifth team ever to win the FA Cup and League Cup in the same season – the others being Arsenal (1993), Liverpool (2001), Chelsea (2007) and Manchester City (2019).

Chelsea could have a history making weekend as, for the first time, the men’s and women’s FA Cup finals will be played across the same weekend, with Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea taking on Liverpool today before Emma Hayes’ Blues face Manchester City in the Women’s final tomorrow.

In the women’s game the holders and three-time winners, Chelsea, are going for the double, having aleady lifted the Women’s Super League title last Sunday whilst their opponents, Manchester City, are also aiming for their fourth FA Cup triumph and second piece of silverware this year after beating Chelsea 3-1 in the Continental League Cup in March.

The last five FA Cup finals have been won by either Chelsea or City, but this will be the first time the teams have met in the final which will be shown live on BBC One on Sunday.

The quest for the quadruple has taken its toll on Liverpool. Not, perhaps, on their players. “You could write books on the resilience of these boys,” reflected Jurgen Klopp, talking about Tuesday’s comeback at Aston Villa. But fatigue caught up with him.

“I had two afternoon naps yesterday,” he exclaimed. “Two. It worked well. I feel really good.” Re-energised, reacquainted with his beaming grin and booming laugh, Klopp heads to Wembley, looking to the FA Cup to provide a second trophy of the season and perhaps a first of three in May.

“I don’t run, I don’t fight,” he rationalised. “I have different kinds of challenges. It’s tough, but it’s fine. It has never been done before [the quadruple] so it’s like the first step in whichever island.”

Liverpool may be alone in achievement. But if not, it won’t be failure. Klopp is urging everyone else to savour the moments. “When I say, ‘enjoy the journey’ I mean it,” he explained. “We only cause ourselves problems as human beings. ‘Don’t come home without a quadruple’, for example: you will never be happy. If that is the only way to satisfy you that is really difficult.”

As a player who himself offers such sharp turns, Christian Pulisic finds it’s better to follow his instincts than overthink them. This has, after all, been a season that could have gone in so many different directions at so many defining moments. Chelsea could have been champions, and certainly should have been title contenders. It could have been Pulisic’s year, and the player’s father feels he should have played much more.

At the same time, Chelsea could well have gone out of business. There’s an element of symmetry about the fact that the club now look to have new owners before a domestic cup final against Liverpool, when the build-up to their last domestic cup final against Liverpool saw the first questions about Roman Abramovich’s future raised in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

That Carabao Cup final was itself a game that summed up much of this. Chelsea were the equal of a team that may now be the best in Europe, and could have secured another trophy had a shot off the post, marginal offside call or shootout penalty gone a different way.

No one who has watched Liverpool’s development under Jurgen Klopp can deny the greatness of his team. This side is one of the most complete in the club’s history. They could still finish with a clean sweep of trophies. They could also end up with just the one they already have in the bag.

Liverpool have a chance to seal the second leg of the quadruple when they face Chelsea at Wembley today in the FA Cup final. This is a rematch of February’s EFL Cup final, which ended in an epic penalty shootout when all 11 Liverpool players who were on the pitch at the final whistle scored from the spot. Klopp’s side showed that they know how to get over the line in tight situations.

They need to show the same resilience over the next two weeks. The margins were tight against Chelsea three months ago. Thomas Tuchel’s team had the better chances in the 0-0 draw and Romelu Lukaku had a goal disallowed for the most ludicrously tight VAR decision. Wembley will present a real test.

Chelsea have matched Liverpool this season with three draws - two in the Premier and one in the Carabao Cup final which they lost in a penalty shoot-out.

Boss Thomas Tuchel has been asked how his team can go one step further and beat the Reds to which he replied: “They allow chances, and we proved it,

“We had big chances in the Carabao Cup final but it’s their approach [playing with a high defensive line]. Liverpool is the team that by far the most puts the strikers of the other team offside, so it’s not easy.

“They play this high line because there’s always pressure on the ball, them working hard and counter-pressing and pressing. It’s not easy to exploit these spaces because you need perfect timing, you need the connection between the guy with the pass and the guy who receives it, and then you have to be precise and you’re constantly under pressure.

“So that’s why they do it and they have a point, with the the amount of success they have with it. It’s their style of playing and it’s very difficult to find solutions but like always, you can find solutions if you have the perfect day - and we’re hoping for that.”

Jordan Henderson will become the first Liverpool captain to lift six different trophies if the Reds are victorious in this afternoon’s FA Cup final.

Liverpool earned a penalty shootout win against the Chelsea back in February as Henderson went on to lift the Carabao Cup and are looking to claim their second piece of silverware of the campaign.

If they do, Henderson will make club history by securing his sixth different trophy as skipper having already lifted the Premier League, Champions League, Carabao Cup, Uefa Super Cup and Fifa Club World Cup.

Thomas Tuchel has been in charge of Chelsea for just one year and 108 days since taking over from Frank Lampard in January 2021. Today, he is preparing to take charge of his fourth major final at the club.

Last season his side were beaten 1-0 by Leicester City in the FA Cup final but two weeks later the Blues were crowned champions of Europe after a 1-0 victory of their own against Manchester City in the final of the Champions League.

Tuchel’s men have already added the Uefa Super Cup and Fifa Club World Cup to the trophy cabinet this season but the defeat to Liverpool on penalties in the Carabao Cup final stung and Tuchel is hoping his players will use the pain of that defeat to motivate them on Saturday.

"We want to get them back, simple as that," said Blues midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

Tuchel himself added: "It will be another hard fight, given the quality and run of form of Liverpool, but this is what a cup final is all about."

Speaking ahead of the game, Jurgen Klopp explained the feeling of taking charge of Liverpool at Wembley and addressed the rumour that he doesn’t respect domestic cup competitions.

“I said it after the Carabao Cup final, it was no different to the Champions League final three years ago. No difference.” he said. “It was blue and red, bam, both went for each other, so easy to see where we were and the others. Massive atmosphere, really, and I expect exactly the same again.

“It’s outstanding. Wembley is a great stadium. It would be nice if it could be a bit closer to Liverpool, to be honest, because it’s always a proper trip, but that’s the only negative thing I can say about it.

“People always said I’m not the biggest fan of the domestic cup competitions – that’s not true, it just never happened. Now this year it happened the second time. I honestly can’t wait to feel the atmosphere again.

“Let’s give it a go against an incredibly good opponent, unfortunately – but that’s the nature of the thing that in the final you barely meet teams that cannot play football.”