EFL Cup Final 2021-22 | Carabao Cup Preview

EFL CUP FINAL PREVIEW

The first trophy of the 2021/22 season is up for grabs with Liverpool vs Chelsea in the EFL Cup Final from Wembley, live streaming on Sky Sports.

The EFL Cup, also known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship purposes, has long been overlooked by football fans amid the obsession with the Premier League and Champions League. Perhaps it’s because it’s had more names than Watford have had managers but it’s a trophy that many top managers have placed great importance upon.

Our EFL Cup Final preview is brought to you in partnership with EPL Index, and Dave Hendrick – host of the Two Footed Podcast, offering FREE podcasts to football fans.

EFL Cup Final Preview | Heavyweight Contest

⚽ Liverpool vs Chelsea
📅 Sunday 27 February 2022
⏰ 1630 UK Kick-Off
🖥️ Sky Sports Live Streaming

The opportunity to win silverware early in the season and build confidence and a platform to attack the rest of the season is something that Bob Paisley, Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola have all taken very seriously. Even in defeat, teams have often used it as motivation over the business end of the season. Getting to the final really is a win-win for top teams. Win and confidence soars, lose and it’s a chip on the shoulder that can power a team to later success.

When Jurgen Klopp first arrived at Liverpool he targeted the League Cup and Liverpool made it to the final. They were beaten by Manchester City but used that as motivation for a Europa League run that also took them to the Final of that competition that same season. Klopp hasn’t had the squad at his disposal to focus on the domestic cups until this season, but with renewed depth in key roles, the Liverpool manager has brought his team to the EFL Cup once again while also progressing in the Champions League and the FA Cup alongside a sustained title challenge in the Premier League.

Liverpool’s path to the final has not been straight forward. In the four previous rounds, they have faced Premier League opposition in three of them. Norwich were defeated 3-0 at Carrow Road to kickstart the run, before a trip to Preston saw the Reds triumph 2-0 over North End. It got trickier after that, and a penalty shoot-out was needed for a second string Liverpool to overcome Leicester after coming back from 3-1 down. They faced Arsenal in the semi-finals and despite, according to Arsenal fans on Twitter, losing the first leg 0-0, they beat the Gunners 2-0 at the Emirates to advance to the final.

They come into the game very close to full strength. Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino are doubts with injuries, but Jota is expected to make the squad while Firmino’s status remains unclear. Jota’s return would be a great boost for Liverpool as it would give them an attacking threat of the bench should Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz fail to crack open the Chelsea defence.

Chelsea have also had a difficult run to the final, facing Premier League opposition each step of the way. They began with a penalty shoot-out victory over Aston Villa, before securing the same outcome against Southampton. A 2-0 win away to Brentford was accomplished with a heavily rotated team. In the semi-finals, they swept Tottenham aside in dominant displays. They never looked troubled as they ran out 3-0 winners on aggregate over their London rivals.

It set up a final between two clubs who have built a rivalry over the past 15 years, and two managers who are closely connected.

Jurgen Klopp cut his managerial teeth at Mainz, taking charge of Die Nullfünfer from 2001 to 2008. In 2009, Mainz hired another rookie manager in the form of Thomas Tuchel, who stayed until 2014. Klopp would go on to manage Borussia Dortmund to great success and acclaim, and when he decided to leave in 2015 the man chosen to replace him was Thomas Tuchel. Tuchel didn’t have the same level of success at Dortmund, but still left his mark on the club with his own brand of outstanding football.

When Klopp was hired as Liverpool manager, Tuchel joked that at least he knew which club he would manage in the future. It hasn’t played out like that obviously, Tuchel took over at PSG after his departure from Dortmund before moving on to Chelsea just over a year ago. Klopp has remained at Liverpool and built them, as he did Dortmund, into one of the best teams in the world. Tuchel may never get the chance to build a team in his own true identity at Chelsea, because of the nature of Chelsea, but he has certainly done an exceptional job since taking over. After replacing Frank Lampard, Tuchel turned Chelsea from a midtable team heading in the wrong direction into European Champions within six months. He will be hungry for more silverware, hoping that silverware will buy him more power at the club and the chance to have a stronger hand in recruitment.

Last summer’s big buy, Romelu Lukaku, does not appear to have been a signing of Tuchel’s choosing and Chelsea look a better team without him. But leaving a £100m player on the sidelines is always a big call. Mourinho experienced similar when Roman Abramovich signed Andrei Shevchenko against his wishes, and history repeated itself when Carlo Ancelotti found himself lumbered with Fernando Torres. When Roman decides to sign a player, manager find that their grasp on the job loosens if they don’t find ways to make it work. Tuchel shouldn’t be under pressure at Chelsea, but always will be because Roman is so changeable and wants things done his way.

It may well be that Chelsea’s failure to sustain a title charge this season will be laid at the feet of the manager but he is the last person to blame. Chelsea haven’t sustained a title charge for many reasons but the biggest reason is simply the form of Liverpool and Manchester City. They have played Liverpool twice this season and taken draws both times. At Anfield they accomplished the feat despite playing with 10 men for an entire half, while at Stamford Bridge they came from 2-0 down to get the point.

Those games have been very close affairs, and this one likely will be as well. Chelsea will most likely line up in a 3-4-3 but with Reece James and Ben Chilwell injured they aren’t at their strongest. There are also concerns about whether or not Mason Mount will recover in time for the final, and that would be another big blow for the blows.

This promises to be an extremely tense, and hard fought match. Chelsea’s compact defensive block and ability to spring counter attacks has caused Liverpool problems this season but Liverpool were missing Thiago in both games and will believe that the Spanish wizard can weave his magic and help unlock Chelsea’s backline on the big pitch at Wembley.

Regardless of whether it’s known as the Football League Cup, Milk Cup, Littlewoods Cup, Rumbelows Cup, Coca-Cola Cup, Worthington Cup, Carling Cup, Capital One Cup, Carabao Cup or EFL Cup, this competition deserves more respect that it receives. This Sunday it will hopefully have a final befitting of its great history.

No matter where you are, you can use your Liberty Shield VPN to find a way to watch the EFL Cup Final. Don’t have a Liberty Shield VPN? You’re missing out! Click right here to check out what we can offer you, and use the code ROUTER50 to get a 50% OFF a VPN Router at check-out.

How to watch the EFL Cup Final from anywhere…

The EFL Cup Final will be streamed live on Sky Sports, as well as their respective apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Smart TV, Now TV, FireTV etc.

But their streaming services are not available to everyone, for example when you load Sky Sports in the USA, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Australia, Dubai, Canada etc. you will get an error message.

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