These English Premier League giants are all English Carling Cup contenders at the delight of millions of football fans across the world. Although Kenny Dalglish and Roberto Mancini have blasted the congestion of fixtures, the excitement of the public ahead of the League Cup quarter-finals hasn’t decreased.
In London on Tuesday night, two great games will unfold. Chelsea will host Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. This will be both sides’ second meeting in the space of ten days.
A few days ago in the English Premier League, Liverpool condemn bitter rivals Chelsea to a 2-1 defeat at the Bridge as Andre Villas-Boas’ Chelsea career went under scrutiny. The Merseyside Reds could embarrass the Blues once again.
However, they’ll need to deal with a few major things. One of those is fatigue. Only two days ago, Liverpool had to play 90 minutes of intense football against Manchester City. Chelsea, meanwhile, had a less demanding task. Besides getting a Saturday afternoon fixture, they played against rather weak opponents in the form of Wolves.
Could old boy Fernando Torres punish Liverpool by inspiring Chelsea to achieve semi-finals tickets? The Spaniard, whose goal scoring form is unimpressive, might need more a lot of luck to trouble Liverpool.
Kenny Dalglish hasn’t lost a single fixture against Chelsea in eleven matches as head coach of the Reds. What’s more, Liverpool are on a run of ten games unbeaten in all competitions.
Elsewhere at the Emirates, Arsene Wenger’s resurrected Arsenal will entertain Manchester City. This encounter will be a battle between young blood and money. The Citizens’ squad is so full of stars that even a second-choice lineup would beat the Gunners on paper.
Adam Johnson, Nigel de Jong and Owen Hargreaves are expected to play a role for City at the Emirates tonight. Meanwhile Park Chu-Young and Oxlade-Chamberlain are likely to start for Arsenal.
Manchester City have only lost twice in all competitions this season. Defeat for Mancini’s men in the League Cup quarter-finals will make justice to Wenger’s youth and anti-financial doping policy.
Chelsea vs Liverpool and Arsenal vs Manchester City aren’t the only games that will take place tonight. Cardiff City will host Premier League side Blackburn Rovers.
On Wednesday night, Manchester United will end the quarter-final phase of the English Carling Cup with a match against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford. By then, which teams between Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Cardiff City and Blackburn Rovers will be sure semi-finalists?
