The past two days saw clubs in the EFL Cup battle it out for a place in the semifinals and it didn’t disappoint. The Manchester clubs were eliminated in the earlier rounds but the remaining of the ‘big six’ make up the semifinal lineup.
EFL Cup Quarterfinal review
There were no upsets as such in the quarterfinals. On Tuesday, Arsenal made light work of League 1 side Sunderland. Eddie Nketiah’s hattrick was the star of a 5-1 win for Mikel Arteta’s youthful Gunners.
The remaining action took place on Wednesday. Brentford vs Chelsea was not only a match between two west London clubs, but two teams affected by covid. Chelsea handed debuts to three youngsters, and they did their job in a 2-0 win. The goals arrived late in the second half, thanks to an own goal from Bees skipper Pontus Jansson and a Jorginho penalty.
West Ham United, who eliminated both the Manchester clubs, notably Man City, were ousted by Tottenham. Spurs’ transformation is evident now and with Man City out, they will fancy their chances of ending their long trophy less run.
The most mouth-watering of the quarterfinals on paper was Liverpool vs Leicester and it lived up to its billing. The match ended 3-3, after the Foxes led 2-0 and 3-1 through Jamie Vardy and James Maddison. But Takumi Minamino’s stoppage time equaliser took the match to penalties. He then had the chance to win the shootout with his penalty, but blasted it onto the bar. However, the Reds were offered a second chance when Ryan Bertrand missed, and Diogo Jota made most of the opportunity.
Arsenal 5-1 Sunderland
Brentford 0-2 Chelsea
Liverpool 3-3 Leicester City (Liverpool won 5-4 on penalties)
Tottenham 2-1 West Ham
EFL Cup semifinal draw
The draw has also been made and honestly, any set of fixtures would have been exciting. As it is, the draw pits Arsenal against Liverpool and Spurs against Chelsea.
Liverpool’s EFL Cup campaign was ended in round 4 last season at the hands of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. That elimination came via a penalty shootout, exactly how Liverpool have reached this stage this season.
Spurs vs Chelsea is always a feisty meeting and this time it has the added subplot of Antonio Conte. The Italian spent two seasons in the blue of Chelsea, winning a Premier League and an FA Cup title. Now he’s overseeing a much needed transformation at Tottenham. The two teams faced each other in the same competition at the same stage three seasons ago. Maurizio Sarri turned around a first leg deficit to beat Mauricio Pochettino on penalties.