The first domestic trophy is up for grabs this weekend as Chelsea and Liverpool face off at Wembley on Sunday in the English Football League (EFL) Cup Final. With Man City having won the trophy for each of the past four years, it’ll be the first time since 2017 that there will be a new name on the Carabao Cup.
While both Chelsea and Liverpool have been extremely successful in recent years, the EFL Cup has been one trophy that has eluded the duo for a prolonged period of time. Chelsea haven’t got their hands on the trophy since beating Tottenham in the final back in 2015, while it’s been a decade since Liverpool defeated Cardiff City on penalties to win the cup in 2012.
Both teams have been on fine runs of form, which adds extra intrigue to the final. Liverpool have won their past nine matches in all competitions, while the Blues are on a six match winning streak, which includes lifting the Club World Cup earlier in February.
As ever, you can enjoy the big match in style at Bet9ja and attempt to turn your predictions into some cold, hard cash with some of the best odds and markets around, such as 1X2, over/under, goal and combined markets to bet on. Here’s an in-depth look at Sunday’s final:
Chelsea looking for another trophy
While Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea struggled to maintain their impressive start to the Premier League season, it’s already been a successful one with two trophies in the bag so far. Firstly, the UEFA Champions League holders won the European Super Cup by beating Villarreal on penalties in August. While Kai Havertz’ late penalty helped the Blues see off Palmeiras in extra time to win the Club World Cup for the first time in Chelsea’s history in February.
The victory against Lille in the Last 16 of the Champions League midweek made it six wins in six for Chelsea, with only two of them coming in the league. But Tuchel has a few issues to contend with, none more so than the form of record signing Romelu Lukaku. Despite scoring twice in the Club World Cup, the Belgian striker has scored just once in his past eight domestic matches and had just seven touches of the ball in the 1-0 win at Crystal Palace, with question marks arising about how he fits into Chelsea’s system. Having said that, he was dominant in the two wins over Tottenham in the two-legged EFL Cup semi-final but after being dropped against Lille it’s doubtful he’ll find a place in the starting XI on Sunday.
In terms of injuries, influential midfielder Mason Mount hasn’t featured since the Club World Cup success but is back in training, while Hakim Ziyech and Mateo Kovacic are doubts after picking up knocks against Lille.
Can Liverpool be stopped?
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool head into the EFL Cup Final in some scintillating form. The 6-0 demolition of Leeds on Wednesday means it’s now nine wins in a row for the Reds, and 12 unbeaten. It’ll be Liverpool’s first EFL Cup Final since 2016 but the Reds will be favourites to win the trophy for the ninth time which would be a new record.
With 25 goals in the past nine matches, it’s hard to see how Liverpool’s front three will be stopped, other than through missing personnel. Roberto Firmino and Diego Jota are doubts going into the final but that only opens the door for Luis Diaz, who has been impressive since signing from Porto in January. Mo Salah continues to be the main man with 27 goals from 31 matches already this season, while Sadio Mane’s late brace against Leeds takes him to 13 for the season.
The Reds haven’t had it all their own way during the run to the final. They were held 0-0 by Arsenal in the first leg of the semi-final before eventually winning 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium. And they had to dig deep in the quarter-finals after finding themselves 3-1 down at Anfield against Leicester, before scoring with virtually the last kick of the game then winning 5-4 on penalties. That sort of character and failure to know when they are beaten is another reason to make them slight favourites for Sunday.
Bet9ja odds:
Liverpool are favourites to win in 90 minutes at Bet9ja with odds of 2.3, while Chelsea are slight outsiders at 3.25. Finals are often cagey affairs but these two teams usually produce goals. Chelsea came from two down to draw 2-2 at Stamford Bridge in a thriller back in January, while the two played out an eight-goal classic back in July 2020, with Liverpool coming away with a 5-3 win.
You can get odds of 2.1 for Over 2.5 Goals, or 3.7 if you are brave enough to back Over 3.5 Goals. Combined, that would be odds of 3.8 for Over 2.5 Goals and a Liverpool win, or 7.7 for Over 3.5 goals and also a victory for the Reds. The correct score market is an interesting one. 0-0, 1-0 or 2-1 seem to be the most common scores in recent EFL Cup Final history. A 1-0 win to Chelsea is 9.1, which is 7.3 for a Liverpool reverse. 0-0 is 8.5 while you can get odds of 11.75 for a 2-1 Chelsea win and 9.6 for Liverpool.
Bet9ja prediction: Liverpool win in 90 minutes (odds: 2.3). Correct score: 2-1 (odds: 9.6)
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