The first trophy of the season is up for grabs this Sunday when Chelsea take on Liverpool in the 2023/24 EFL Cup Final.
Liverpool will be looking to win a record-extending 10th EFL Cup in their 14 appearance in the final of this competition. Chelsea, on the other hand, will be hoping a victory in this one could be the turning point in yet another disappointing season from the Blues so far.
While Liverpool did beat Chelsea 4-1 just a few weeks ago, injuries for both sides coming into this game could give us a completely different type of encounter between the two sides.
Chelsea vs Liverpool
Sunday 25 February, 16:00
Wembley Stadium
Liverpool are coming into this game on the back of an extremely impressive run where they have lost just one of their last 15 games across all competitions. This form has helped take them to the top of the English Premier League where they currently sit four points clear of second-placed Manchester City, although they have played a game extra.
Goals haven’t been a problem for the Reds either scoring three or more in eight of these 15 games, including back-to-back 4-1 wins heading into this game. The defensive side has been a slightly bigger problem for Liverpool though as they’ve conceded in all of their last seven games, something that may give Chelsea some confidence ahead of the final.
Liverpool will also be going without plenty of their key players in this final, with 11 players potentially missing out with injuries. The most notable of these absentees are Alisson Becker, Curtis Jones, Joel Matip, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota, while there are still doubts about whether Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez will be back in time.
Chelsea will also be dealing with their fair share of injury concerns heading into the final. Captain Reece James remains out with his Hamstring injury, with Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile also missing from the defensive options. Thiago Silva may also be missing for Chelsea, but there are hopes he could return in time for the match.
Chelsea are heading into this game on the back of three positive results, seeing them win against Aston Villa and Crystal Palace before holding Manchester City to a draw last weekend. However, their season has been a story of ups and downs with them currently sitting 10th in the table, losing as many as they have won.
This fixture will be the third final between these two sides in the last two years, as they met in both the EFL Cup Final and FA Cup Final in 2022. Both of these fixtures ended in stalemate after 120 minutes, with Liverpool eventually being crowned winners in both after penalties.
Bet9ja Tips
Both teams will be coming into this one hoping they can get their hands on the first trophy of the season, but Liverpool will be the much more confident of the two owing to their impressive form this season.
While Chelsea are sure to put up a better fight than they did in the 4-1 loss to Liverpool in January, we still believe that Liverpool will prove too much for this faltering Chelsea side to deal with. You can get odds of Liverpool to win of 2.14 with Bet9ja.
The last five EFL Cup Finals have only produced six goals, including the 0-0 draw between the two teams in 2022. For that reason, a Liverpool win and under 1.5 goals at odds of 9.50 could be worth backing. You can get the same odds for a Liverpool 1-0 correct score.
Bet9ja Odds (at time of writing, 90 minutes only): Chelsea win: 3.25, Draw: 3.75, Liverpool win: 2.14
Booking Codes:
68LLQ9X, 68LLR97, 68LLS7D
1 Comment
by Seun
Hi