Carabao Cup Race: Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester Clubs all qualify for the Next Round
The Carabao Cup is one of England's most competitive tournament which is why we get to see a lot of energy from all teams. Also to note is that the Carabao also known as the English Football League is open to all 72 members of the English Football League and the 20 members of the Premier League. Meaning that a total of 92 teams are involved in this tournament which is why it is usually a knockout (lose and go) and has many rounds/ stages of elimination.
To win this cup requires a lot of commitment and preparation from both players and coaches. Precisely, the Carabao Cup organized by the English Football League (EFL) is a competition that was established in 1960 and is considered to be the second-most important domestic cup competition for English football clubs, after the FA Cup. This cup competition usually has different sponsors and this year the Carabao fruit drink appears to be the sponsor reason the tournament is named after it. Over the years, it has been named as Carling cup, Capital One Cup amongst others.
Record shows that Liverpool FC have won this Cup for eight (8) good times and this is the highest for any team who was won the cup. Liverpool FC did also win the EFL title consecutively from 1981 to 1984. However, they haven't won the trophy in the last five years and I hope the win it this year. For the records also, Aston Villa was the very first team to win the EFL title after defeating Rotherham by aggregate in a two-legged finals fixtures.
Back then, the finals was usually two-legged - home and away but it is not so anymore. Aside from Liverpool FC, other clubs that have won the trophy consecutively are Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United while Arsenal have been runner up for the most times. However, Manchester City is the current EFL title holder having won tye title from 2018 till 2020. Who will get it from their hands this year because they cannot afford to win it four times in a row?
The 2020/21 season of the trophy is underway and we have seen a lot of displays from different teams. They are currently in the fourth round. While most teams have been eliminated already, the Premier League top five teams have all qualified for the 4th round. The 3rd round fixtures are scores were as follows;
Lincoln City vs Liverpool
Liverpool FC thrashed Lincoln City with a scoreline of 7 goals to just 2 by the home team. It was an interesting game for the likes of Curtis Jones, Jota (who had his debut for Liverpool FC then), Minamino as they did shine in the game. This victory game them a ticket to the next round where they will be guests at the Emirates stadium to the Gunners on October 1st.
Chelsea on the other hand had an easy win over Barnsley at Stamford in a 6 goals thriller. Havertz, the blues record new signing saw the back of the net thrice to become the man of the match. While Arsenal FC scored past Leicester City to qualify for the next round.
With all the five big Premier League contenders still in the tournament, who do you think will lift the trophy? For me, I'd want Liverpool FC to win this time around.
The next 7 days fixtures of the Carabao Cup can be viewed on screenshot below:
