The Carabao Cup trophy is up for grabs in February and for the first time in five years, Manchester City’s players will not be getting their hands on it.
City have had a vice-like grip on the cup in recent years winning each of the last four finals and five of the last six, but they suffered an early exit to West Ham this season, leaving the path clear for someone else to claim the first major prize of the 2021-22 campaign.
Chelsea are already safely through to the final after comfortably dispatching last season’s runners-up Tottenham 3-0 on aggregate. Spurs gave Thomas Tuchel’s side a helping hand in the first leg, with lax defending contributing to Kai Havertz’ opener and a Ben Davies own goal completing a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues then won the return leg 1-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Antonio Rudiger scoring the game’s only goal from a corner after a goalkeeping error from Pierluigi Gollini. That result ensured that Tuchel became the first manager in Chelsea’s history to guide the club into three finals – the Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup – in his first 12 months in charge.
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Carabao Cup final 2022 date, time and other key info
- Date: Sunday 27 February
- Kick-off time: TBC but the final usually kicks of at 4.30pm
- Venue: Wembley
- TV: Sky Sports Main Event
- Live stream: You can stream it on NOW TV. Day passes are available from £9.99.
Chelsea could face one of two familiar opponents at the national stadium with Arsenal and Liverpool vying for the second spot.
The two-legged semi-final between the clubs has not been without controversy. The first leg at Anfield was postponed after a number of Liverpool players and staff members tested positive for Covid, however, Jurgen Klopp subsequently revealed that with the exception of Trent Alexander-Arnold, they had all been “false positives”.
When the first leg did finally take place, Liverpool were unable to break Arsenal down at Anfield despite having a man advantage for over an hour following Granit Xhaka’s sending off. Xhaka aside, the Gunners lost a few players to injury in that match which ultimately led to their north London derby against Spurs being postponed.
As reported by i, the Premier League is now looking into amending its postponement rules in part due to the fallout from that match being called off.
Arsenal are the most successful team in FA Cup history, but they have struggled to translate that success to the League Cup, winning only two of their eight finals. In contrast, Liverpool are the joint-most successful team in the competition, lifting the trophy eight times with their most recent success coming in 2011-12.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3ryAvJ0
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