On the 25th February the Carabao Cup otherwise known as the League cup comes to a close. The League Cup, is an annual football competition in England. It was first introduced in the 1960-1961 season and is open to all 92 clubs in the top four divisions of English football: the Premier League, the English Football League Championship, League One, and League Two.
The tournament is organised by the English Football League (EFL) and typically runs from August to February, culminating in a final held at Wembley Stadium in London. The League Cup is considered one of the major domestic trophies in English football, alongside the FA Cup and the Premier League title.
On the 25th February Liverpool and Chelsea will come head to head to compete for the League Trophy and both teams will hope to give their fans a day they will remember forever.
Throughout this blog we will look at both teams competing at Wembley and have a quick read through of the standout moments throughout the tournament.
Liverpool Preview
Liverpool have been impressive throughout the season leading the Premier League table and competing in 4 competitions. With the likes of Diaz, Salah, Nunez, Jota and Gakpo they strike fear into any opposition defence.
The Liverpool team will fight to try and win everything this season especially now Liverpool manager and legend Klopp has announced this will be his final season. There is a clear mindset with the team, staff and fans; they will do everything in their power to give Klopp a send off he deserves.
When focusing on the league cup, Liverpool have had an excellent run this year as they look to bring back the success they achieved in 2022. Along the way to the final Liverpool have beaten the likes of Leicester, Bournemouth, West Ham and Fulham scoring an impressive 13 goals.
Standout player
One player to look out for is the formidable and unpredictable Darwin Nunez, the Uruguayan has been one of the most entertaining players to watch. Nunez has achieved 23 goals and assists this season, the best return of his Liverpool career. There is no doubt that he still has a lot he can improve on his game which includes his finishing.
One of many games that summed Nunez up was against Chelsea, he hit the woodwork 4 times against Newcastle. Klopp still came out with amazing confidence in the young man- "It is just crazy that he creates that many. Imagine for a second he would take them all... the numbers would be absolutely insane to the extent where you wouldn’t understand it anymore, so it’s normal.”
Nunez will want to provide ecstasy for his manager and the fans for their constant support. There is no better way to do this than in the league cup final!
Chelsea Preview
Chelsea, well were can we start with the blue side of London. They have had a turbulent season, nobody knows what to expect from the young side. With former Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino they hope that he can lead the club to cup glory.
They have had a forgettable league campaign as they currently sit 10th in the league which is not what a club like Chelsea expects to be. They have spent over one billion in the transfer market however, these are all on incredibly young players with huge potential. So this is why the manager has not been to blame for some of the results. They are a club that is in a huge project and they only expect big things to come in the future.
When looking at the league cup they have had much more success beating the likes of Brighton, Blackburn, Newcastle and Middlesbrough. The semi final summed up Chelsea’s inconsistencies, losing 1-0 in the first leg then blowing Middlesbrough away 6-1 in the return leg. There have been signs of what is to come by Chelsea and they are currently in a good run of form.
When Chelsea visited Liverpool earlier on in the month they did not have a successful visit. They will hope that being on neutral ground will give them more hope of coming away with victory. They certainly have talent in the squad with a very good manager. So they will hope that on the day they turn up and give Liverpool a real test!
Standout player
There is no surprise that Cole Palmer is the pick for standout player for Chelsea this season. The former City player has been incredible for Chelsea, a shining light in what many may call a dark season. Palmer’s form has been inspired and even got himself called up for England. He is one of the best young talents in English football, he will hope to turn a disappointing season into success if they can win the cup.
Carabao Cup main Highlights
Morgan Rogers- Top Goalscorer
This rising future star was not a player that many of you would have expected to be top goalscorer of the competition with only the final to play. However, here at football flick we saw huge potential when he took part in the PRO V PRO Challenge so it came as no surprise to see him thriving.
Scoring 5 goals in the competition Rogers sits as top goal scorer one ahead of Gakpo. The young forward helped Middlesbrough to reach the semi finals which was an incredible cup run for the Boro! He was so impressive in his cup run he has achieved a big move to Aston Villa, he will hope to build on this momentum in the Premier League.
Shock exits
Last year's champions fell short against a very young Newcastle side. This sent shock waves around Europe as they couldn't retain the famous treble that they achieved last year.
Newcastle eventually lost to finalists Chelsea on penalties however, they had a valiant display knocking out both sides of Manchester including a 3-0 away victory at Old Trafford.
Arsenal, without a league cup triumph since 2004 went to London Road and fell short once again with a hugely disappointing result to the Irons who beat them 3-1. West Ham went onto lose against current finalists Liverpool in a 5-1.
Spurs who haven't won any major trophies in over 15 years came up against Fulham in their first game in the competition. They came short as they lost on penalties, Fulham later went on to narrowly lose against Liverpool in the Semi Finals.
Where to watch the Carabao Cup Final?
The clash will be available to watch on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Main Event in the UK on Sunday 25th Feb at 15:00.
