Arne Slot has never been to Wembley before but in his first attempt with Liverpool, the Dutchman has booked a place in the Carabao Cup final. Newcastle United will be a stern test, but the Reds will rightly be viewed as the favorite.
For Liverpool to have reached the final can only be a boost. Yes, it means Liverpool's trip to Aston Villa will now take place just days before the huge clash with Manchester City — but the benefit of potentially winning a trophy far outweighs that. Momentum, in such a packed campaign, can be Slot's friend.
"I think we had some big nights here already but yeah, to reach a final should also be special, and that is what it is," Slot told Sky Sports at the final whistle in the semi-final against Tottenham. "So yeah in that perspective, it has been the most special evening.
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"In Holland, we only have one cup competition, and that final is played at the end of the season. So it is new experience but a nice one to have. It is a special stadium for English people but also for Dutch people because we know the history of the stadium and final as well."
Before Liverpool plays Newcastle in mid-March, it will face eight more fixtures in each of the other competitions. One of those, in fact, will be the Magpies at Anfield in the Premier League.
"Very pleased to go there but we know we will face a very tough opponent," Slot continued. "They are a very good team, but they will face a very good team as well. We also have to take into account in the first half there were many injury moments.
"So it is difficult to control the game but we did it really well and it took them 80 minutes before they had a shot on target. It was a very good performance from our side."
More matches will provide a test of Slot's roster but Liverpool has only one injury at the moment — a minor one for Trent Alexander-Arnold. In terms of depth and quality, no one can match the Reds at the moment.
"There are many games to be played," Slot said. "We were lucky — or maybe not lucky — that we were already qualified after six games in the Champions League so we were still able to rotate. This is a league where you play the most games, but you are only able to take 20 players.
"If you play so many games you need more than 20 players. If a club like us should always have 20, 21, 22 first-team players and behind it we can take more academy players then a game like today would have been ideal.
"There is only one downside to reaching the final: it is playing Villa in midweek. But being successful creates even more games. It is a positive and players get stronger in my opinion by playing."
