London: Liverpool should round off a second consecutive season by brandishing a trophy when Rafael Benitez's men take on West Ham in Saturday's FA Cup final.
A year after they famously overturned AC Milan's 3-0 halftime lead in the Champions League final in Istanbul, Liverpool face a promoted club in Cardiff who have already won a place in Europe next season without kicking a ball.
With Benitez's side in the Champions League qualifiers, the Hammers are guaranteed to get Liverpool's unwanted UEFA Cup slot, a rich reward for an excellent season under Alan Pardew.
They are unlikely to get any more than that, though, from the Millennium Stadium, where Liverpool were unlucky to go down 3-2 to Chelsea after extra time in last year's League Cup final.
The Reds have much improved over the intervening 15 months, winning 50 per cent more Premier League games than in 2004-05 and giving Manchester United a fright in the race to finish second and claim an automatic Champions League place.
They have also knocked Chelsea and United out in their FA Cup run and produced a thrilling comeback at second division Luton Town, rallying from 3-1 down with half an hour left to win 5-3.
The Spanish manager's compatriots Xabi Alonso, who is battling for fitness, and Luis Garcia have provided creative spark going forward and the missing link between Liverpool's midfielders and strikers.
Captain Steven Gerrard remains the pivot of the team, though, with his incisive tackling, superb distribution and fearsome shot.
Gerrard, whose late own goal hauled Chelsea back into that 2005 final, will certainly be out to make amends and claim a seventh FA Cup for the Anfield trophy room.
Despite a fine return to the top-flight after a two-year absence, West Ham face an uphill task to win the Cup for the fourth time.
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They have lost home and away to the Merseysiders this season, the latest less than three weeks ago, and have not beaten them since 1999.
They have never managed to knock them out of the FA Cup in five previous attempts.
Their hopes lie with strikers Dean Ashton and Marlon Harewood, whose superb winner against Middlesbrough booked them into the final, and impressive young captain Nigel Reo-Coker, who turns 22 on Sunday.
Reo-Coker's battle in midfield with Gerrard should be a highlight of the game, along with the efforts of West Ham central defender Anton Ferdinand to muzzle his brother Rio's England teammate Peter Crouch.
East Enders and FA Cup romantics will hope Teddy Sheringham comes off the Hammers' bench to become the oldest scorer in a final at the age of 40.
However, the romantics will also be aware of the steely resolve of Benitez, who has gained in stature in his second season in charge and is showing no signs of easing up the discipline.
"Outsiders looking in might think it's a done deal and we've only got to turn up to win it," Crouch told the club's website.
"But I can promise you we're not thinking like that. And with the manager we've got, there is no danger of us having a lapse of concentration."
Liverpool won the first FA Cup final to be held at the Millennium Stadium, when two late Michael Owen goals gave them victory over Arsenal in 2001.
Assuming the Wembley is ready next year, they should also win the last one.
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