Chelsea and Liverpool will contest the EFL Cup Final at Wembley on Sunday and punters have plenty to consider before placing their bets.
Chelsea
Chelsea lost the first leg of their semi final match up with Middlesbrough 1-0 but they turned the tie around in some style at Stamford Bridge with a 6-1 win on the night including a brace for Cole Palmer.
Chelsea were drawn at home in all the previous rounds. They stumbled past Wimbledon with a 2-1 win before seeing off Brighton 1-0 and Blackburn 2-0. Their quarter final clash with Newcastle was also staged at Stamford Bridge and an injury time equalizer salvaged a 1-1 draw and Chelsea went on to win the shoot out.
Other recent results indicate Chelsea are in good shape. They were 3-1 winners at Villa in the FA Cup and then won a league game at Palace by the same scoreline. Last weekend they drew 1-1 away to Manchester City where they put in one of their best displays of the season and City only rescued a point late on.
Liverpool
Liverpool edged out Fulham 3-2 on aggregate in the semi finals, winning the first leg at Anfield 2-1 and drawing the return 1-1.
Their cup run began with a 3-1 win at home to Championship high flyers Leicester and they subsequently came away from Bournemouth with a 2-1 victory. That set up a quarter final clash with West Ham at Anfield and Liverpool coasted to a 5-1 win.
Liverpool have also progressed to the Europa League knockout rounds and after a 4-1win at home to Luton in midweek they currently top the EPL standings, 4 points clear of Man City and 5 in front of Arsenal although they have played 1 game more than those two rivals.
On the downside Liverpool have been hit by a whole host of injuries. Goalkeeper Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Thiago and Szoboszlai have been missing in recent games. Jota was stretchered off at Brentford last week and looks set to be out long term and Jones and Nunez also picked up knocks and missed the midweek victory over Luton. Mo Salah returned to action at Brentford but was not involved against Luton and the teams news from Klopp's press conference will be worth a good look.
Recent Head to Head
The teams met at Anfield in a league game as recently as 31st January and Liverpool thumped Chelsea 4-1.
The first league meeting this season took place at Stamford Bridge on the opening weekend and it finished 1-1 whilst both of last season's league meetings finished without a goal.
In 2021/22 the teams met at Wembley in both the EFL Cup Final and the FA Cup Final. Both games finished without a goal and Liverpool won both penalty shoot outs.
The Betting
At the time of writing Chelsea are 22/10 to win the game with the draw at 27/10 and Liverpool can be backed at around 11/10
A game of 3 goals or more is priced at 0.62/1 and it's 0.57/1 for both teams to score
Note the above markets are for regulation time
To lift the cup via any method Chelsea are 5/4 and Liverpool can be backed at 6/10
The Verdict
It's not long since Liverpool thrashed Chelsea at Anfield but plenty has happened since then. Second guessing team news, especially for Liverpool, is no easy task but I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of big hitters return to the line up that started against Luton. Even then, I give Chelsea a shout although they will need a repeat of the display they put in at Man City last weekend.
Bets: Chelsea to win at 22/10 with Sportingbet (Regulation time)
Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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