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Despite only being two and a half months into the new season, we’re down to the last eight in the Carabao Cup following the round of the last 16 fixtures concluding earlier this week.
Heading into this week, Manchester City were the bookies’ favourites and understandably given that the Citizens have lifted the trophy in four consecutive years. Since 2018, City have beaten the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa and most recently, Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley to add the silverware to their cabinet and were hotly tipped to do it for the fifth year running.
However, fellow Premier League side West Ham ended City’s four-year run as Carabao Cup winners when they knocked the current champions out of the competition on penalties on Wednesday evening. The Hammers have earned their place in the last eight given that they also knocked out Manchester United in the previous round and will now go into the draw for the quarter-finals to see who they’re up against next.
Now that Manchester City have been eliminated, Chelsea have emerged as the new favourites to go all the way in the competition and lift the trophy for the first time since they beat Tottenham 2-0 back in 2015.
Chelsea as a team have been transformed since the arrival of manager Thomas Tuchel less than a year ago and not only are they favourites to win the EFL Cup, but they’re also in the running for the FA Cup, the Premier League and possibly to defend their Champions League title.
However, it hasn’t been plain sailing for the Blues in the competition as they have been held to 1-1 draws at Stamford Bridge in both of their matches to reach this stage. Aston Villa first took them all the way to penalties towards the end of September in the third round of the competition and despite Ben Chilwell missing the second of their spot-kicks, they emerged as 4-3 winners.
That narrow victory meant that they were to face Southampton, again with the home advantage, and were strong favourites to progress through to the last eight. However, despite controlling the game with over 60% possession and double the number of shots on target (14), they could only find the net once which was swiftly cancelled out by a Che Adams strike just minutes after half-time. Like Villa, Southampton saw the game to penalties but yet again it was the home side who came out on top following misses from both Will Smallbone and Theo Walcott for Southampton.
It’s important to take into account that during the early stages of the competition, sides tend to field weakend teams but as we reach the quarter-finals, we should see more of the star players featuring in the starting eleven’s which is one reason why Chelsea are currently the bookies’ favourites.
Here are the current odds prior to the draw for the semi-finals:
| Team | Odds | Bookie |
|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | 11/4 |  |
| Liverpool | 16/5 | |
| Arsenal | 6/1 |  |
| West Ham | 6/1 |  |
| Leicester | 13/2 |  |
| Tottenham | 9/1 |  |
| Brentford | 20/1 |  |
| Sunderland | 80/1 | |
Although the Carabao Cup isn’t usually the main priority for any competing side, Tuchel will want to add to the clubs’ impressive silverware since he took over which includes trophies from both the Champions League and the Super Cup.
Despite being favourites, it won’t be an easy route to the final for the London side given that seven of the eight remaining clubs currently feature in the Premier League including the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Leicester and West Ham who are all capable of causing an upset.
Liverpool are very close in the odds to Chelsea and will be their main competition along the way. Klopp’s side are firing on all cylinders currently which was emphasised at the weekend when they thrashed Manchester United 5-0 at Old Trafford.
Sunderland are the only non-Premier League side remaining in the competition and are considered as outsiders being priced at 80/1 with bookmaker BetVictor. The Black Cats overcame QPR on penalties in their last 16 match and Lee Johnson’s side have also beaten Wigan, Blackpool and Port Vale to reach this stage of the competition that they have never won before. They have reached the final twice previously with the most recent being in 2014 when they were beaten 3-1 by Manchester City at Wembley.
When Is the Carabao Cup Quarter-Final Draw?
The Carabao Cup quarter-final draw will take place on Saturday 30th October and will be televised live on Soccer AM.
The draw will be conducted by ex-West Ham player Jimmy Bullard and presenter John Fendley and although a time for the draw is yet to be released, it is expected to be between 10:30am – 12pm BST.
How To Watch The Carabao Cup Draw
You can watch the quarter-final draw of the 2022 Carabao Cup live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event. Alternatively, you can watch the draw for free via the SkySports YouTube Channel which is a great option if you don’t currently have a Sky Sports subscription package.
Of course, if you aren’t able to tune in, you can always follow the latest updates from the draw via the official Carabao Cup account on Twitter.
