Who Will Win the Carabao Cup Final?
Sunday February 25 sees the Carabao Cup final take place at Wembley. Will it be Premier League leaders Liverpool who win this competition for a record tenth time? Or can Chelsea win the trophy for the first time in nine years?
First Leg of the Quadruple
Liverpool are chasing a quadruple this season. They ended the weekend two points clear at the top of the Premier League.after a win at Brentford. Wednesday sees them host Luton Town and they’ll be wanting not just another win but no injuries being sustained. With them going well in the FA Cup and Europa League. Jurgen Klopp’s final season at Anfield could be a very successful one.
The Reds have won the EFL Cup a record nine times. Five games have been played by them on their way to Wembley. Leicester City, Bournemouth, West Ham United and Fulham have all been beaten with 13 goals being scored. They are 4/7 at bet365 to lift the trophy and evens with the same bookmaker to win in 90 minutes.
The 4-1 win at Brentford kept them at the top of the Premier League. Mo Salah was back on the scoresheet and he’s 6/5 at WIlliam Hill to score in this Carabao Cup final and 7/2 to net the first goal in the match.
This season has so far seen Liverpool draw at Stamford Bridge and then beat Chelsea 4-1 at home on the last day of January. That home win extended Liverpool’s unbeaten run against Chelsea to eight games. However five of those games ended in draws after 90 minutes. BetVictor offers 13/5 that this Carabao Cup final is level after 90 minutes.
That could possibly happen as the last two Wembley Cup finals between these two sides went into extra time. Both were in the 2021/22 season and ended goalless after 90 minutes. It’s 12/1 at bet365 this game ends 0-0 at the end of normal time as has happened in four of their last six meetings.
Big Day for Chelsea
Chelsea are tenth in the Premier League and may well miss out on European football for a second successive season. That won’t be the case if they can beat Liverpool on Sunday. Doing so will see them go into the play-off round of next season’s Europa Conference League.
Those sides chasing a place in Europe via the Premier League will be hoping Liverpool win this match. They look certain to finish in the Champions League places so winning the Carabao Cup would free up another qualifying place in the Premier League. That wouldn’t be the case if Chelsea win this final and then finish outside the top six.
Not being in European competition this season meant Chelsea had to play six games to get to this final. AFC Wimbledon, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United (via penalties), Brighton and Hove Albion and Middlesbrough have all been beaten. They did lose the first leg of the semi-final at Championship side Middlesbrough but then thumped them 6-1 at home in the second leg.
Chelsea’s form has been inconsistent this season as it was last term. Their current form is pretty good though with a run of three games unbeaten, most recently drawing 1-1 at Manchester City. A poor performance often looks to be just around the corner though. They lost 4-2 at home to Wolves earlier this month and that followed the 4-1 defeat at Anfield.
It’s really a question of which Chelsea will turn up at Wembley on Sunday. They’ve only lost once at home since last October. However, only three of their last ten away matches have been won with six defeats.It’s 11/8 at William Hill that they win the Carabao Cup on Sunday and 11/5 with them that Chelsea win in 90 minutes.
Liverpool are in top form at present and are scoring plenty of goals. This could just be the last time Klopp manages them at Wembley and he’ll be keen to win this match. A bet on Liverpool to win and both teams scoring is 13/5 at bet365 and may well be a winner.
