Chelsea have been handed a relatively favourable draw in their pursuit of Carabao Cup glory with the Blues set to take on Middlesbrough in the semi-final. At the same time, Liverpool will have to battle against fellow Premier League side Fulham for a place in the final.
Chelsea and Fulham made it through to the semi-final following penalty-shootout victories over Newcastle United and Everton respectively on Tuesday, while Championship outfit Middlesbrough saw off the threat of Port Vale courtesy of a 3-0 victory.
Liverpool were the last side to book their ticket in the last four but certainly went about business most emphatically, running out 5-1 winners over a largely underwhelming West Ham United side on Wednesday night.
Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones set the Reds on their way to victory with strikes in either half after which Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah and Jones put the result beyond doubt, rendering Jarrod Bowen’s strike inconsequential.
Shortly after the sound of the full-time whistle at Anfield, the semi-final draw was made and the four remaining teams have now found out who currently stands between them and a trip to Wembley in February for the first piece of silverware English football has to offer this season.
The first leg of the Carabao semi-final will take place in the week commencing on January 8, a fortnight before the return leg takes centre stage in the week commencing on January 22.
In what could potentially be a repeat of the 2021 final where Jurgen Klopp’s men came out on top after a thrilling penalty shootout, Chelsea and Liverpool are huge favourites to make it to the grand finale of this year’s edition.
However, Middlesbrough and Fulham have shown that they are far from being pushovers and will be looking to upset the odds in their respective ties against more illustrious opponents.
