Andoni Iraola has challenged Liverpool to maintain their winning momentum as they prepare to host Chelsea in the Carabao Cup fourth round at Anfield.
The Reds head into Wednesday’s encounter on the back of four consecutive victories across all competitions, with Sunday’s 2-0 Premier League win over Brighton & Hove Albion providing another boost ahead of the cup tie.
For Iraola, however, the satisfaction of winning is not enough. The Liverpool head coach believes success only strengthens the team’s appetite for more, and he wants his players to carry that mentality into a demanding clash against a high-quality Chelsea side.
Writing in his matchday programme notes, Iraola reflected on Liverpool’s latest victory and explained why winning can become an increasingly powerful motivation.
“Straight after our game against Brighton on Sunday I was asked how happy I was that the team had made it four wins in a row and I said I was very happy,” he writes. “This is obvious of course but there is another side to winning that is also very important – it leaves you wanting more.
“It does not matter what competition we are playing in, what team we select or what the general situation is, we always want to win and that feeling only grows when you know what it means to earn a victory.
“It is also made bigger by the knowledge that in every game that we play our opponents will have exactly the same ambition and this will definitely be the case tonight when we play a very strong Chelsea team in the Carabao Cup.
“This will be the second time in successive rounds that we have faced a Premier League team from London in this competition and we can expect that challenge from Chelsea to be just as aggressive as it was from Spurs. They have a squad with a lot of quality and in Xabi Alonso they have a manager whose record as a player and a coach speaks for itself.
Iraola also highlighted the personal connection between himself and Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso, while making it clear that sentiment would have no place once the match begins.
“Xabi is someone who I know well and someone our supporters have a lot of affection for, so I would like to offer him the warmest of welcomes in the knowledge that once the game begins no-one involved will be looking to do anyone any favours. None of us would have it any other way.
With Liverpool facing a demanding run of fixtures, squad rotation and player recovery will also influence the selection. Iraola acknowledged that the coaching staff must balance freshness with the need to maintain the team’s established standards.
“At the time of writing these notes it is too early to know which starting line-up we will select. First we will have to see how the players recover after the Brighton game and we will also have to consider how much freshness we can add into the team to give us the best possible chance of playing in the way we would like to.
“During periods like this when we are playing every few days it is always a case of finding the best match-ups we can while also thinking how we are going to finish the game. This is especially true when you are playing Sunday-Wednesday-Sunday and all of the opponents are of a very high level.
“But whatever team we pick will go out there with the same objectives that we have in every match we play. We have to show the same desire to defend our own goal, the same positive aggression in duels and the same commitment to being dangerous in transition as we did on Sunday.
“If we do this, we will give ourselves the best possible chance of making it through to the next round.
The Liverpool boss also praised the team’s work without the ball, insisting that the fundamentals remain crucial to maintaining their recent run.
“The victory over Brighton showed once again the importance of doing the basics well. I love that this is something that our supporters respond to.
“This was something I knew already from my time as an opposition manager but feeling it on this side – especially those moments when the whole crowd reacts to a tackle being won or a player showing big desire – is something that, like winning, I could never get enough of.
“We know it will not be easy but we are looking to create more of those moments tonight. If we can do this, we will see where it takes us.”
With Chelsea standing between Liverpool and a place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, Iraola’s message is clear: the winning run has raised expectations, but the team must deliver another disciplined performance to keep the momentum going.
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