When Liverpool begin the defence of the Carabao Cup in the autumn, the tournament will see some changes from previous editions.
The Reds are already gearing up for a new Champions League format which’ll require at least 15 (possibly 17) matches if they’re to win it out, although that has been offset to a degree by the controversial abolition of replays from the FA Cup for 2024/25 onwards.
As per The Telegraph, the expanded UEFA club competitions have also necessitated some alterations to the Carabao Cup, most notably that teams participating in Europe will be kept apart in the draw for the third round, the stage at which they enter the tournament.
This is to avoid clashing with Champions League and Europa League games in September, and Round 3 will now be split across two separate midweeks so as to prevent congestion. However, two-legged semi-finals have been preserved due to the EFL’s annoyance over Premier League clubs’ non-deliverance of a proposed £900m football support system.
At least the EFL have taken a logical step to avoid putting Liverpool through a repeat of the shambolic scenario we witnessed in December 2019, when the Reds were forced to play Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals and Monterrey in the Club World Cup in the space of 24 hours.
With Jurgen Klopp and the first-team squad in Qatar, the domestic fixture was delegated to Neil Critchley and his under-21s, who lost 5-0 to a strong Villans outfit.
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What these tweaks to the Carabao Cup underline is the frightening overkill of the football calendar, with the expanded UEFA competitions already having a knock-on effect on other commitments, and the ludicrous 32-team Club World Cup (which begins next summer) won’t exactly help matters either.
The growth of these money-spinning behemoths has led to FA Cup replays being abolished, which may come as a relief to Liverpool and other Premier League sides but is a major setback to clubs lower down the pyramid, for whom one extra game in the competition could generate enough revenue to provide years of financial security.
Whilst the Reds know they won’t draw Arsenal, Villa, Tottenham or the two Manchester teams at the start of their Carabao Cup defence, the chances of meeting at least one of them later in the tournament have now increased slightly.
We hope Arne Slot knows what he’ll be getting into with four tournaments to handle instead of the three with which he was accustomed at Feyenoord.
Before the new season starts which is going to be extremely difficult for any team which suffer injuries along the way. Man City need relegating for their cheating financial affairs how can other teams get points deducted when city have cheating for years. If the FA don’t then the Premier League should go on strike.