On Sunday 27th February, the first silverware of the 2021-22 season in England will be handed out as Liverpool take on Chelsea in what promises to be an exciting Carabao Cup Final.
We last previewed the 2020 final between Aston Villa and Manchester City, which Manchester City won 2-1 thanks to goals from Sergio Aguero and Rodri.
City also won the trophy last year, defeating Tottenham 1-0 in the final thanks to Aymeric Laporte’s late winner, but having been knocked out of this year’s tournament by West Ham, City won’t be able to better Liverpool’s record of four successive wins in the trophy this year.
The Reds are the most successful team in Football League Cup, or Carabao Cup as it is known for sponsorship reasons, history. The Reds have won eight trophies, losing four including a loss to Manchester City on penalties in the 2016 Final.
Their eight wins is tied with Manchester City, but the Reds have had more final appearances.
However, Chelsea were the last club from outside Manchester to win the trophy when they beat Tottenham in the 2014/15 final. Liverpool’s last win came back in 2012, when they defeated Cardiff on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
Bet365 Sport are already offering plenty of pre-match betting on the game, which we will explore in more detail in this article, and of course there will be plenty of Live Betting available once the game starts on Sunday afternoon.
Carabao Cup Final Preview
Chelsea and Liverpool have met in one previous League Cup Final back in 2005, when Chelsea emerged as the 3-2 winners after extra time. The game is best remembered for Steven Gerrard’s headed own goal that brought Chelsea level late in the game.
Both teams have changed markedly in the 17 years since that final but both have remained stalwarts of the English game since, with both teams winning the Premier League and Champions League, as well as the FA Cup and World Club Championship in the intervening period.
Chelsea have reached the final eight times, winning on five occasions and they are one of three teams (the others being Aston Villa and Manchester United) to win the trophy five times.
Let’s take a closer look at how both teams reached Wembley.
The Road To Wembley
Chelsea
- Third Round – v Aston Villa (H) – D 1-1 (W 4-3 pens) – (Werner 54)
- Fourth Round – v Southampton (H) – D 1-1 (W 4-3 on pens) – (Havertz 44)
- Quarter Finals – v Brentford (A) – W 2-0 (Jansson OG 80, Jorginho 85 (pen.))
- Semi Finals 1st Leg – v Tottenham (H) W 2-0 (Havertz 5, Davies OG 34)
- Semi Finals 2nd Leg – v Tottenham (A) W 1-0 (Rudiger 18) – Won 3-0 on aggregate
Liverpool
- Third Round – v Norwich C (A) – W 3-0 (Minamino 4, 80, Origi 50)
- Fourth Round – v Preston NE (A) – W 2-0 (Minamino 62, Origi 84)
- Quarter Finals – v Leicester (H) – D 3-3 (W 5-4 pens) – (Oxlade-Chamberlain 19, Jota 68, Minamino 90)
- Semi Finals 1st Leg – v Arsenal (H) – D 0-0
- Semi Finals 2nd Leg – v Arsenal (A) – W 2-0 (Jota 19,77) – W 2-0 on aggregate
Chelsea Squad
Goalkeepers
- Kepa Arrizabalaga
- Eduoard Mendy
- Marcus Bettinelli
Defenders
- Antonio Rudiger
- Marcos Alonso
- Andreas Christensen
- Thiago Silva
- Trevor Chalobah
- Ben Chilwell (Inj)
- Reece James
- Malang Sarr
- Cesar Azpilicueta (Capt)
Midfielders
- Jorginho
- N’Golo Kante
- Mateo Kovacic
- Ruben Loftus-Cheek
- Saul Niguez
- Ross Barkley
- Mason Mount
- Hakim Ziyech
- Kenedy
- Kai Havertz
Forwards
- Romelu Lukaku
- Christian Pulisic
- Timo Werner
- Callum Hudson-Odoi
Manager
- Thomas Tuchel
During qualifying for the Carabao Cup Final, Thomas Tuchel has tended to play fringe players during the earlier rounds, but he picked a first team for the two semi-final games against Tottenham and it is likely he will do so again here.
Kepa will likely get the start in goal ahead of Eduoard Mendy, having played in most of Chelsea’s cup games so far this season, but the positions in the rest of the team remain up for grabs.
Liverpool Squad
Goalkeepers
- Alisson
- Adrian
- Caoimhin Kelleher
Defenders
- Virgil van Dijk
- Ibrahima Konate
- Joe Gomez
- Kostas Tsimikas
- Andrew Robertson
- Joel Matip
- Rhys Williams
- Trent Alexander Arnold
- Conor Bradley
Midfielders
- Fabinho
- Thiago
- James Milner
- Naby Keita
- Jordan Henderson
- Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
- Curtis Jones
- Harvey Elliott
- Tyler Morton
Forwards
- Roberto Firmino
- Sadio Mane
- Mo Salah
- Diogo Jota
- Luis Diaz
- Divock Origi
- Takumi Minamino
- Kaide Gordon
Manager
- Jurgen Klopp
Jurgen Klopp has utilised all his squad in the Carabao Cup this season with fringe players given a chance at all stages of the competition and a number of youngsters blooded in games earlier on in the campaign.
Caoimhin Kelleher will continue in goal for the Reds after impressing in the cup competitions this season, but it is likely Klopp will revert to a very strong first choice team for the final against Chelsea.
Head To Head
The teams have met twice this season, both times in the Premier League, drawing 1-1 at Anfield back in August 2021, and then they drew 2-2 at Stamford Bridge in January this year.
In the last ten games between the teams, Liverpool have won five, Chelsea two with three draws. However, since Thomas Tuchel took over at Chelsea, the Londoners are unbeaten against Liverpool, winning once and drawing two of the last three games between the teams.
Chelsea have also won four of the last five League Cup ties between the two teams.
Pre-Game Betting Odds & Tips
Currently, bet365 Sport have Liverpool as the 13/10 favourites to win the ganme, with Chelsea 2/1 and it is 23/10 the draw at 90 minutes with extra time and possibly penalties being required to decide the winner.
Given that the last two games between these two rivals have finished up as draws, the odds on the game being at least taken to extra time looks a good value bet to me.
Assuming both managers go with full strength teams but with a second choice goalkeeper, I think these are two evenly matched sides that are hard to separate.
As such, I think the odds on the draw at 90 minutes look the best value bet here, but I think Liverpool may just do enough to clinch the win, either in extra time or on penalties.
Tags: bet365 Sport
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