EFL Cup: Third Time Lucky for Chelsea?

Chelsea vs Liverpool

The first silverware of the English season is up for grabs on Sunday when Chelsea and Liverpool will battle it out for the 2024 EFL Cup.

This was a familiar Wembley fixture only two years ago when Liverpool won both the EFL and FA Cups, beating Chelsea on penalties in both finals. Much has happened in the intervening two years; there has been a revolution at Stamford Bridge following the Todd Boehly takeover with very little success to speak of so far, and up on Merseyside Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has recently announced he will leave the club in the summer.

The sentimental souls, and of course Liverpool fans, will hope that Klopp can win at least one trophy in his final season at Anfield, but Maurico Pochettino will have plans in place to give the Blues’ fans something to celebrate. Chelsea come into the game in decent form, with two 1-3 wins on the road followed by an impressive 1-1 draw away to Manchester City last weekend. Meanwhile, Liverpool beat Luton Town 4-1 on Wednesday to go four points clear at the top of the table.

The Reds will start as favourites to win the trophy at SBOTOP odds of 1.57 with the Blues at 2.40; we’re set for a cracker so let’s take a closer look at the pre match EFL Cup 2024 news and the players we think will write the headlines.

Talking Points

Can Cold Palmer win this for Chelsea?

One of Boehly’s best signings of his reign so far surely has to be the transfer of England U21 star Cole Palmer from Manchester City. The versatile forward has been on a hot streak of form but is coolness personified in front of goal, and that has earned him the nickname ‘Cold Palmer’. He likes to start on the right and drift into the centre; Palmer’s link-up play has been exceptional and he has weighed in with some crucial goals, including two in Chelsea’s semi-final victory over Middlesbrough.

His pace and trickery can cause mayhem in any defence and Palmer will be the player Liverpool are most wary of, and that might give centre forward Nicolas Jackson some freedom. Just behind the front men Conor Gallagher has been another of Chelsea’s shining lights in a difficult season and he has added goals to his game too.

But Chelsea are likely to play much of this match in defence and the return of experienced wingback and captain Ben Chilwell is very timely. The Blues recent clash with Manchester City will give Liverpool plenty to think about as Mauricio Pochettino’s side showed how the Sky Blues can be matched, for the second time this season. And the way Chilwell nullified the threat of the excellent Phil Foden will give his team-mates confidence he can cope with Liverpool’s flying winger Luis Diaz. And Chelsea’s last line of defence, Djordje Petrovic has impressed since he took the gloves from Robert Sanchez; he’s a great shot stopper and is a calm presence who can boss his penalty area.        

Chelsea’s big players all need to perform; but Palmer can be the Blues’ match-winner.  

Or is this Mo’s moment?

Liverpool have had their fair share of injuries this season, and Diogo Jota is the latest player to be sidelined. But there is better news for Reds fans in the return of talisman Mo Salah. The Egyptian marksman has had another stellar season; he is hoping to chase down Erling Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot and he has been out of action for over a month. Salah scored in Liverpool’s 4-1 win away to Brentford last weekend and looked as sharp as ever. But he was left out of Klopp’s line-up against Luton with the club’s explanation that he was tired. So we expect to see him back in action on Sunday. The EFL Cup 2024 betting odds reckon this is Liverpool’s final to lose and if Salah is on song they will probably be right.   

Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo both scored against Luton on Tuesday as the Reds came from a goal behind to win, and they are both in line for a start in the EFL Cup final, while another man Chelsea will be wary of is Alexis MacAllister who is playing in a more advanced role; and he scored a cracker against Brentford at the weekend.   

History

These two giants of the English game have had the biggest battles of any pair in the Premier League era, both winning 31 of the last 86 meetings with 24 draws.

This season they drew 1-1 at Stamford Bridge on the opening day of the campaign but Liverpool slapped the Blues 4-1 at Anfield less than a month ago. Then of course there are the two penalty shootout wins which gave Liverpool two trophies back in 2022. 

Liverpool are in better form over the past six games, with five wins and one defeat while Chelsea have won two, drawn two and lost two.     

Betting Tip

They are nine places ahead of Chelsea in the league table and it is no surprise Liverpool are favourites at odds of 2.02 to win in 90+ minutes, with Chelsea at 3.04 and the Draw is at 3.28. I think this will be another close final between two heavyweights intent on punching each other out, and a 1-1 draw in normal time is the most likely outcome… at odds of 6.56.

 

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