Carabao Cup Final – Sunday 25th February, 4.30 KO

Liverpool, the most successful club in League Cup history, will be looking to add to their previous 9 victories in the competition when they face Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on Sunday February 25th in this year’s Carabao Cup final – kick off 4:30pm. We have some superb hospitality packages at the Home of Football, so don’t miss out on this fantastic occasion – get in touch with us and we’ll help you find the right tickets for you.

Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea cruised into the final having trailed Michael Carrick’s Middlesborough by a single goal after the first leg in the north-east. The Blues put on a show in the return fixture at Stamford Bridge, laying down a marker with a 6-1 win in front of their own fans, who will relish the 8 mile journey to the National Stadium at the end of February. Cole Palmer was the star man, his two goals topping off a typically intelligent performance. His arrival at the end of the summer transfer window has arguably been Chelsea’s brightest moment in recent transfer windows, and his ability will give the Stamford Bridge faithful genuine belief that they can upset the odds at Wembley.

Liverpool faced a trickier task in their last four clash – against fellow Premier League side Fulham. The Reds won the first leg 2-1 at Anfield, setting up an intriguing visit to West London to secure their 14th appearance in the League Cup Final. An early goal from Luis Diaz gave Jurgen Klopp’s side some breathing space, and in spite of Issa Diop’s late equaliser, Liverpool held on to book their place in this season’s first Wembley showpiece.

Chelsea v Liverpool – A lively history

Liverpool versus Chelsea is one of the great clashes in modern football. Whether the sides have been doing battle in the Premier League, the domestic cups or even Champions League, there has always been a fierce edge to the matches. The clubs have played each other 195 times since their first meeting in 1907, when Chelsea won 4-1 at Anfield. Liverpool have the upper hand in head-to-head clashes overall, winning 84 times to Chelsea’s 65.

Of these 195 fixtures, 9 have been in the League Cup – with four wins each, and one draw. The most recent match was the 2022 final, which finished 0-0, with Liverpool prevailing 11-10 in a penalty shoot out, after Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga came off the bench and missed his sudden death kick. As far as finals go, this one wasn’t the best, and the neutral at least will be hoping for something closer to the 2005 final – one of those classic battles between Jose
Mourinho and Rafa Benitez, played at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, while Wembley was being rebuilt.

When this match was played, Chelsea had lost only one match all season, and were an incredible 25 points ahead of 5th placed Liverpool in the Premier League. The game started at a blistering pace – John Arne Riise scoring inside 45 seconds, but with victory in sight, Steven Gerrard headed into his own goal with little over ten minutes remaining, sending the match into extra time. Mourinho responded to the equaliser by shushing the Liverpool bench and crowd, an action which saw him sent from the dugout – an early glimpse into his personality for English fans. Despite the manager’s absence from the touchline, Chelsea took the lead through Didier Drogba, before Mateja Kezman added a 3rd. It seemed to be all over, but Antonio Nunez gave Liverpool a glimmer of hope in the 113th minute. I wonder if this year a Nunez will go one better…

The League Cup was Jose’s (and Roman Abramovich’s) first trophy in English football, soon followed by the Premier League – Chelsea finishing 12 points ahead of runners up Arsenal and 37 points better off than Liverpool – but Liverpool didn’t finish the season empty-handed, taking the Champions League in the so-called Miracle of Istanbul.

Klopp v Pochettino is an intriguing clash, a rerun of the 2019 Champions League Final when the Argentine was in charge of Tottenham. You won’t want to miss out on this – so give us a call on 01454 201210 and we can talk you through the fantastic Wembley hospitality.

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