Carabao Cup final - Chelsea vs Liverpool tips and predictions: Reds to claim first stage of Quadruple bid
- Scott Allen
- 23 February 2024
Injury-hit Liverpool are looking to win their 10th League Cup title on Sunday (1500 GMT), but Mauricio Pochettino's young Chelsea side will be aiming to put an early end to the Red's Quadruple bid.
On paper the Carabao Cup final looks like it could be a cracker. Top of the table Liverpool against a Chelsea side who keep pretending to turn the corner under Mauricio Pochettino, but then they don't.
But hang on a minute, this a cup final and that usually means a cagey nip and tuck affair where neither side wants to make a mistake.
This isn't helped by Liverpool and Chelsea seeming to make a meal out of their recent encounters. A meal that has already been reheated several times in the microwave and had all the colour taken out of it.
These two met in the same final just two seasons ago in a dull 0-0 draw. It went to a lengthy penalty shoot-out which saw both keepers step up.
Reds goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher scored his side’s 11th attempt and Kepa Arrizabalaga, who had been brought on for the pens, missed his.
Proving that mucking about with your keepers for a penalty shootout rarely works, their knees aren’t dirty yet.
The FA Cup final between the two sides, a few months later, was also a 0-0 draw, with Liverpool again winning on pens.What a grim year 2022 was.
If you ignore Liverpool whacking four past Chelsea in January this season, their last seven successive games were all draws.
The last three finals between the two sides, including a Super Cup, have been draws.
So your sofa position to watch this game, is lying down, perhaps with a big pillow and a blanket. A good nap is ahead.
If you stay awake long enough to pull together a bet, Chelsea are currently 25 points adrift of the table-topping Reds and Poch has only beaten Klopp once in 12 meetings.
Chelsea last beat Liverpool in March 2021, when Mason Mount scored the only goal. Remember him? No, neither do I.
So Liverpool, who are still competing on four fronts, are firm favourites. But wait a minute, the old injury list is now starting to play a big part in the business end of the season.
Influential Liverpool players like full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, forward Diogo Jota, midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai and goalkeeper Alisson Becker are already ruled out of the showpiece and Mo Salah is still yet to reach full fitness.
Also Klopp is no master of the final. This will be his 20th in his career, if you count Super Cups and Community Shields, but he has only won nine of them.
Poch on the other hand has yet to win a trophy with an English club, missing with his two shots in the Champions League and League Cup with Spurs. He lifted the Coup de France and the French equivalent of the Community Sheild with Paris St Germain, but that’s hardly a return to crow about.
So is the door ajar for Pochettino to end his trophy drought? Probably not. The Football Gods have already written the script.
Liverpool win a 10th League Cup crown, everyone will start banging on about the start of the Quadruple in Klopp’s final season and Reds fans get a bit tearful….for the next three months.
In real life, penalties again or a scrappy 1-0 win for the Reds is on the cards.
Slap an unusual goal scorer on your slip to spice it up a little. Harvey Elliott, who scored against Luton in midweek, looks good value.
Team news
Diogo Jota and Alisson could be out for significant periods while Curtis Jones also joins Trent Alexander-Arnold, Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip on the absent list for Sunday.
There is no guarantee that Darwin Nunez, who like Jones and Jota was withdrawn in Saturday’s win over Brentford, or Dominik Szoboszlai will be fit as Jurgen Klopp’s squad risks being stretched thin on the run-in.
For Chelsea they are without Reece James, Marc Cucurella, Benoit Badiashile, Wesley Fofana, Lesley Ugochukwu and Romeo Lavia.
They have doubts over several players including Thiago Silva, Carney Chukwuemeka and Robert Sanchez.
Key stats
- Repeat of the 2022 final which Liverpool won 11-10 on penalties
- Last three finals (inc. Super Cup) between the two clubs have gone to penalties
- Chelsea have not beaten Liverpool in any competition since March 2021
- Pochettino has only beaten Klopp once in 12 meetings
Suggested bets
