Why Liverpool can win the Europa League

Inspirational manager
Jürgen Klopp has transformed the mood at Liverpool and the players at his disposal. He has not bought a single member of his squad, yet the footballers he inherited are doing things that looked beyond them during the last days of Brendan Rodgers' reign. Adam Lallana has improved as much as anybody. He shone against Manchester United and was brilliant in the semi-final second leg against Villarreal.

Lallana's old Southampton team-mate, Dejan Lovren, is another player who has rediscovered the very best of himself under the German and was outstanding in helping Liverpool earn a clean sheet in the second leg against the Yellow Submarine.

Press for success
Villarreal were blown away by Liverpool's high intensity in the semi-final second leg at Anfield. Sevilla are a more experienced side than Villarreal, but if Liverpool can repeat that ferocious tempo, it will be intriguing to see if Unai Emery's men can keep up with them. English clubs built their success in Europe on fast-paced football and, intriguingly, Liverpool are doing the same again under a German.

Can return 
Emre Can's return from injury ahead of schedule for the second leg against Villarreal was a tremendous boost to Liverpool. He did not have a single day off between suffering ankle ligament damage in the Borussia Dortmund game three weeks earlier and his appearance in the semi-final at Anfield, working seven or eight hours a day at Melwood to recover his fitness. What he brings to Liverpool is the ability to break up counterattacks and make the play from his position in front of the back four. A fit Can will be a vital asset going into the final.

Sturridge on song
In Daniel Sturridge, Liverpool have one of English football's most enigmatic players. He has great talent and a hunger to score – backed up by an outstanding goals-to-games ratio – yet the England striker's fitness record is less impressive and was questioned by Klopp earlier this season. Sturridge was actually left on the bench for the first leg against Villarreal but he showed in the second leg what he can do, burying his fifth goal in his last seven appearances. He is fresh and looks to have hit form at the perfect time with the final in Basel approaching.

Brimming with belief
Liverpool are a club who do belief better than anybody. Their glass is not so much half-full as invariably overflowing. These are supporters who saw their team pull off the miracle of Istanbul in 2005, and watched Klopp's class of 2016 achieve something similar against Borussia Dortmund. Indeed, Klopp invoked Istanbul in his half-time team talk against BVB. The Reds have won five European Cups and three UEFA Cups, and it is a history that seems to inspire.

Lovren, for one, is full of confidence. He told UEFA.com: "It's 50-50 and will not be easy. It is no coincidence Sevilla are in the final, but everything is possible. If we have a full squad there, nobody can touch us."