“Ah, Rob, you had to go and mention the Q-word!” says Matt Dony. “I’m still expecting a sticky patch in the league, and for Arsenal to sneak through. What Slot has done, with essentially last year’s team, is astonishing. Winning just one trophy in his first season would be an achievement. Four trophies is surely too much to hope for, even in the craziest late-night, Stinking-Bishop-and-red-wine-induced reveries.
“Fighting on four fronts is ridiculous. And it has the added complication (which I’m surprised isn’t stressed more) of swapping between four different match balls. We all laugh when a manager gets in a strop over a particular ball, but the fact is they are all different and behave differently. At the pointy end of the season, where Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League games come thick and fast, constantly swapping ball must be a genuine challenge.
“Anyway. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For now, I’ll just worry about tonight. (Heavy emphasis on ‘worry’. Being a football fan really isn’t as much fun as it should be, is it?)”
Funnily enough Roy Keane made exactly the same point about the balls on Stick to Football this week.
The winners will meet Newcastle, who completed a 4-0 aggregate win over Arsenal last night, in the final.
“Good afternoon from Raleigh, North Carolina,” writes Phil Moseley. “Can’t watch the game as I don’t subscribe to Paramount Plus, so relying on you to chart our inevitable pasting by Liverpool, falling at the last or last-but-one hurdle yet again in the Levy Era.”
Arne Slot makes four changes from Liverpool’s win at Bournemouth. Caoimhin Kelleher, Conor Bradley, Curtis Jones and Darwin Nunez come in for Alisson, the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alexis Mac Allister and Luis Diaz.
Spurs’ new signing Kevin Danso starts in defence, with Mathys Tel among the substitutes. Ange Postecoglou has left out Pedro Porro, which is a surprise. Pape Sarr replaces Mikey Moore in the only other change from the weekend win at Brentford.
Liverpool (4-3-3) Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Jones; Salah, Nunez, Gakpo. Substitutes: Jaros, Endo, Diaz, Mac Allister, Chiesa, Elliott, Jota, Tsimikas, Quansah.
Fresh from overseeing a dogged 2-0 win against Brentford on Sunday, Postecoglou sat down and spoke for 43 minutes before a moment that could define his time in north London. The head coach considered the chance for Spurs “to make a big impact” by going to Anfield and building on their 1-0 win in the first leg. He thought about his captain, Son Heung-min, still being trophyless after nearly 10 years at the club. He seemed energised by sealing deals for the centre-back Kevin Danso and the French forward Mathys Tel at the end of a difficult transfer window.
The tie will go to extra time if necessary, then penalties
There’s no away goals rule
VAR is being used
Evening. Brian Clough, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola and George Graham have one thing in common, and we’re not talking anatomically. The League Cup was the first of many trophies in their glorious eras at Nottm Forest, Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal respectively. It was also the starting point for Gerard Houllier at Liverpool, Ron Saunders at Aston Villa and Manuel Pellegrini at City.
The elimination of Arsenal last night means somebody will win their first major trophy in English football at Wembley on Sunday 16 March: Eddie Howe, Arne Slot or Ange Postecoglou. Slot and Postecoglou’s teams meet at Anfield tonight for the right to face Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final.
Spurs lead 1-0 from the first leg a month ago – a month! – but Liverpool are understandable favourites given the performances of both teams this season, and the population of their treatment rooms.
Postecoglou’s mood has been improved by consecutive wins, and clean sheets, not to mention the signings of Kevin Danso and Mathys Tel; Liverpool are romping to the league title and are still in contention for the quadruple that eluded them in 2021-22. Then, as now, the League Cup is the only place to start.