Chelsea and Liverpool comfortable through to the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup

The embarrassing defeat by Brentford at Stamford Bridge at the weekend left the fans wondering and definitely showed that nothing should be expected from this team and this season, However, a glimmer of hope that maybe the Cup is ‘the’ competition this season appeared after the triumph over Blackburn in the Round 4 of the League Cup - 2:0 (1:0).

Mauricio Pochettino is having serious trouble with Chelsea in the Premier League, probably because there was practically no discount for the team tonight in the duel with the team from the Championship. The easy win is something that has been almost forgotten in West London since the end of Roman Abramovich's golden era, yet Blackburn failed to be a serious threat to the Blues. It's far from Chelsea winning at half throttle, as they used to do when they were the dominant force in English and European football, but Pochettino managed to ignite a spark. What will come of it remains to be seen...

The captain finally returned to the field for the Blues. Reece James played the first minutes since the opening of the season, when he got injured for the first time and was absent practically all the time due to the renewal of old and new problems with his leg. Next to James, the stopper tandem consisted of Disasi and Badiashile, Cucurella operated on the left, while the trio in the midfield consisted of Ugochukwu, Gallagher and Enzo. Cole Palmer, Raheem Sterling and Nicholas Jackson settled in front. So, almost the strongest composition.

Chelsea had a goal advantage after only half an hour of football, everybody at the stadium new that this team needs to score at least one goal to secure the victory. After Benoit Badiashile's opening goal and after a mistake by Blackburn's goalkeeper Leo Walstedt, Raheem Sterling offered a solution after exactly an hour of play. And that was all...

Liverpool is also in the quarter-finals of the League Cup after a close victory away to Bournemouth (2:1). Unlike Pochettino, Jurgen Klopp changed almost the entire first team, so Mo Salah was one of the few from the starting eleven in the lineup that started the match. Cody Gakpo gave the visitors the lead after 31 minutes, and Justin Kluivert equalized in the 64th minute. It was at the moment when Klopp sent the ‘heavy artillery’ on the field with Darwin Nunez, Alexis McAllister and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and it was the Uruguayan who silenced the Vitality Stadium. It was the 70th minute when Núñez shook the net with a beautiful shot and brought victory to the Reds for the quarterfinals.

EFL CUP - 1/8 FINALS

Tuesday

Exeter - Middlesbrough 2-3 (1-0)

/Trevitt 13, 66 - Rogers 59, Silvera 69, Latte Lath 82 pen/

Mansfield - Port Vale 0-1 (0-0)

/Devine 50/

Wednesday

West Ham - Arsenal 3-1 (1-0)

/White 17(og), Kudus 50, Bowen 60 - Odegaard 90+5/

Ipswich - Fulham 1-3 (0-1)

/Baggott 79 - Wilson 9, Muniz 50, Cairney 77/

Everton - Burnley 3-0 (1-0)

/Tarkowski 13, Onana 53, Young 90+3/

Bournemouth - Liverpool 1-2 (0-1)

/Kluivert 64 - Gakpo 31, Darwin 70/

Chelsea - Blackburn 2-0 1-0)

/Badiashile 30, Sterling 59/

Man.Utd. - Newcastle 0-3 (0-1)

/ Almiron 28, Hall 36, Willock 60/