The overwhelming reaction to the League Cup semi-final draw from the Fulham fanbase was one of disappointment – along with assertions that, in keeping Chelsea and Liverpool apart, the whole thing was a fix. The fact that Harry Redknapp was involved probably didn’t help. The Whites didn’t get the opponent they wanted, but a two-legged contest with Liverpool in the last four is both a mouth watering prospect and an opportunity.

Fulham haven’t been this close to winning a domestic trophy in a long time. You have to go back in 2002, our first season back in the big time, when Jean Tigana’s side got all the way to the semi-finals of the FA Cup before freezing on the big night against our local rivals at Villa Park. It really is the Europa League run that we can draw upon as inspiration: the way the crowd willed Roy Hodgson’s men back into the second leg against Hamburg when it seemed to be slipping away still sticks in the minds of those who played that night even now. Marco Silva’s ambition was not satisfied with beating Everton on penalties to make history, as he said after the final whistle on Tuesday night, ‘I always want more and more’.

The one thing Silva hasn’t taken since he arrived in SW6 is a top six scalp. His side have come close for sure and were cruelly denied even a point on a number of occasions: at Arsenal and Manchester City last season, at home to Manchester United this term and they lost an epic at Anfield only a few weeks ago. But the template for taking on Liverpool has to be the way the Whites announced themselves on their return to the top tier last August. Silva signalled his time weren’t going to be meek respecters of reputations and tore into the Reds from the off with a sense of adventure and ambition that saw Aleksandar Mitrovic utterly embarrass Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk. The Reds were rattled – as shown by the fact that Klopp himself scuttled away from Craven Cottage complaining that the pristine playing surface was ‘too dry’.

This Liverpool side isn’t the force that won the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup in successive seasons. Klopp has had to embark on a very public rebuild of his most dominant side, just as Arsenal and Newcastle United have appeared on the scene as serious challengers at the top of the table. His team, although blessed with several serious attacking options, remain vulnerable as Fulham demonstrated at the start of December and as long as the Whites avoid the kind of pummelling that took on Merseyside in 1986 or 1993 they would have a chance in the second leg at home.

Confidence amongst the first-team squad should be high after recent exploits. Fulham have shown they can grind out results, like sneaking through on penalties at Goodison Park earlier this week, as well as blow opposition away – witness the back-to-back 5-0 thrashings of Nottingham Forest and West Ham. The presence of Tom Cairney in the midfield alongside Joao Palhinha has restored a deeper fulcrum in Fulham’s engine room, whilst Willian and Andreas Pereira have succeeded in setting up Raul Jimenez, who before his aberration on Saturday at St. James’ Park, had shown signs of rediscovering his scoring touch.

The scheduling of the semi-finals means that Fulham will likely be missing a few players who will be participating in the African Cup of Nations. It will be a blow to lose Nigerians Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi, but the return to form of Tosin Adarabioyo and fitness of Issa Diop means Silva should have options in central defence. Tim Ream’s calf injury should have healed by then as well. Iwobi has quickly proven influential having been reunited with Silva in September, but Harry Wilson will be buzzing at the prospect of facing his former employers after scoring in front of the Kop earlier this month. Liverpool, of course, will be without the services of their talisman, Mo Salah.

While the precise dates of the ties are still to be finalised, they might yet also offer Fulham a helping hand. The first leg will be preceded by the FA Cup third round, with the Whites hosting bottom of the Championship Rotherham United on the Friday evening. Silva will surely take the opportunity to rest a few of his first-team regulars and, whilst Klopp will clearly want to rotate in a Cup competition, he will find it more difficult as Liverpool have a tough test at Arsenal on the Sunday afternoon. Fulham are likely to have more recovery time ahead of the return fixture as they travel to Stamford Bridge for a Saturday lunchtime kick off, whilst Liverpool don’t play until the Sunday afternoon at Bournemouth.

There’s no denying that this is a tricky tie but the Whites have a strong recent record in semi-finals (think of the way Slavisa Jokanovic’s side overturned a first-leg deficit to reach Wembley in the 2018 play-offs) and they have a tactical blueprint that is proven to cause Liverpool problems. It is forty years since Second Division Fulham took Liverpool to two replays in the League Cup, only losing to a mishit shot from Graeme Souness in extra time at the Cottage. Silva’s side have all the tools to avenge both that defeat and the late, late loss at Anfield that remains very fresh in the memory. As Tosin tweeted after tucking away that penalty on Tuesday, fear shouldn’t be in Fulham’s vocabulary.