Carabao final: Chelsea battle injury-ravaged Liverpool… Who wins?
This weekend, Chelsea and Liverpool will square off in the Carabao Cup final.
Although many at Stamford Bridge had not anticipated the season they are having, Mauricio Pochettino would greatly value winning a trophy as the Blues continue their arduous journey back to the top.
Following their fifth and most recent Carabao Cup in 2015, Chelsea has since lost two finals to Manchester City and Liverpool on penalties following goalless draws.
The Reds, will be aiming for a record 10th carabao Cup final win on Sunday afternoon, are the team with the most victories in this competition.
This is the first opportunity for Jurgen Klopp to win a trophy in his last season at Anfield as thru are still in the FA Cup, Europa League and stands a chance in the Premier League and for Pochettino’s men this presents an opportunity to show that they are moving in the right direction in building their team.
CHELSEA VS LIVERPOOL TEAM NEWS
Mauricio Pochettino believes Thiago Silva has a chance to play for Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final after recovering from an injury.
Romeo Lavia, Carney Chukwuemeka, Benoit Badiashile, Wesley Fofana, and Reece James are still not available. Although Robert Sanchez is expected to rejoin the team, it is unlikely that he will replace Djordje Petrovic in the goal. Marc Cucurella, lasley Ugochukwu are among the other injured players who are not available.
Given his struggle with form, Christopher Nkunku might start from the bench while Nickolas Jackson leads the line with Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling.
Assistant coach Pep Lijnders acknowledged on Friday that no decision had been made regarding Darwin Nunez, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Mohamed Salah, who are all considered doubts as they await final fitness tests.
Alisson Becker, Ben Doak, Joel Matip, Stefan Bajcetic, Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Thiago Alcantara are all unquestionably out.
CHELSEA PREDICTED STARTING LINEUP
Petrovic, Gusto, Disasi, Colwill, Chilwell, Fernandez, Gallagher, Caicedo, Palmer, Jackson, Sterling
LIVERPOOL PREDICTED STARTING LINEUP
Kelleher, Gomez, Van Dijk, Kwansah, Bradley, Gravenberch, Endo, Mac Allister, Diaz, Gakpo, Elliott
CHELSEA VS LIVERPOOL TIME AND VENUE
Kick-off date is Sunday 25th February, 2024.
Kick-off time is 4pm WAT
Venue is Wembley Stadium
Referee will be Chris Kavanagh
CHELSEA VS LIVERPOOL PREDICTION
Liverpool find this match difficult because of their injury problems. That being said, Klopp still has enough good players at his disposal to complete the job on Sunday.
Chelsea’s record against Liverpool in domestic finals is difficult to interpret as they have in recent years, routinely lost to them. With that in mind, Liverpool is most likely going to win this one, even though it will be close.
Prediction : Chelsea 1 vs Liverpool 3
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