On Sunday afternoon, two of England’s biggest clubs will battle it out for the EFL Cup trophy in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium.
Chelsea and Liverpool met in the 2022 EFL Cup final, with Jurgen Klopp’s side claiming a memorable 11-10 penalty shootout victory following a goalless draw after extra time.
The climb to the final is tough and testing. But the view from the summit could be spectacular. #CFC | #CarabaoCupFinal pic.twitter.com/RhD1ptJrcv— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) February 22, 2024
The climb to the final is tough and testing. But the view from the summit could be spectacular. #CFC | #CarabaoCupFinal pic.twitter.com/RhD1ptJrcv
Can the Reds claim a second EFL Cup trophy in three years? Or will the Blues gain their revenge this time around? Keep reading to discover what Forebet’s predictive analytics model expects.
Chelsea head into the final on the back of a 1-1 draw with Manchester City, despite seeing just 29% possession while facing a barrage of 31 shots last weekend.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men have avoided defeat in each of their previous three matches, with 3-1 victories over Aston Villa and Crystal Palace preceding the draw with City.
In the EFL Cup, Chelsea saw off AFC Wimbledon, Brighton and Blackburn in the early rounds before defeating Newcastle on penalties to reach the last four.
Having thrashed Middlesbrough 6-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals, Pochettino’s men will be hoping to maintain their free-scoring approach at Wembley.
As for Liverpool, they came from behind to hammer Luton Town 4-1 on Wednesday, racking up 61% possession and 29 shots along the way.
Not only have the Reds won five of their last six matches across all competitions, but they have also won 10 of their previous 12, scoring over 2.5 goals on seven occasions.
Liverpool’s EFL Cup journey started with easy wins against Leicester City and Bournemouth before Klopp’s men crushed West Ham United 5-1 in the quarter-finals.
The Premier League leaders edged out Fulham with a 3-2 aggregate victory in the semi-finals, so they will be eager to carry their recent momentum into the final.
Head-to-head: When these two sides met in the Premier League at the end of January, Liverpool thrashed Chelsea 4-1 at Anfield.
Remarkably, each of the seven encounters before that result ended in a draw, with four consecutive goalless stalemates coming between 2022 and 2023.
Team news: Chelsea will be without injured quintet Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Benoit Badiashile, Romeo Lavia and Marc Cucurella for the final.
On the flip side, Liverpool are sweating on the fitness of Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez, with Alisson, Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip sidelined through injury.
Chelsea and Liverpool have produced numerous close-fought battles in recent years, but last month’s result at Anfield highlighted the current gulf between the teams.
Accordingly, Forebet predicts that Liverpool will lift the trophy on Sunday, with Klopp’s men expected to score over 1.5 goals on their way to victory.