Here are all the standout stats you need to know ahead of this week's Carabao Cup Final between Chelsea and Liverpool:
● This will be the third EFL Cup final meeting between Chelsea and Liverpool, with the Blues winning 3-2 in 2005, and the Reds winning on penalties in 2022. It’s the first fixture to have been played in the final in three separate campaigns of the competition.
● Chelsea have won four of their last seven EFL Cup matches against Liverpool, drawing two and losing one. The most recent meeting, however, saw the Blues lose an epic penalty shootout 11-10 following a goalless draw in the 2022 final.
● Liverpool’s 4-1 win against Chelsea in the Premier League last time out ended a run of seven consecutive draws against the Blues in all competitions. They scored as many goals in that victory as they had in their previous eight against them combined.
● With Chelsea and Liverpool having met in two previous EFL Cup finals (2005 and 2022) and two previous FA Cup finals (2012 and 2022), this will be the first fixture to have been played in five different major domestic finals in English football history.
● This will be the fourth meeting between Chelsea and Liverpool at Wembley Stadium – the Blues won the 2012 FA Cup final 2-1, before the Reds won both the EFL Cup and FA Cup finals on penalties in 2022.
● Chelsea are featuring in their 10th EFL Cup final. The Blues have won five and lost four of their previous nine, losing each of the last two via a penalty shootout following a 0-0 draw (v Man City 2019 and Liverpool 2022).
● This is Liverpool’s 14th appearance in the EFL Cup final, more than any other side. They’ve won the competition a record nine times, alternating between not winning (2) and winning (2) in each of their last four.
● There have been six EFL Cup finals that have gone to penalties, with Liverpool being involved in four of those (W3 L1). Indeed, each of the Reds’ last three appearances in the showpiece have been settled via a shootout, beating Cardiff in 2012, losing to Man City in 2016, and beating Chelsea in 2022.
● Chelsea have lost each of their last five major domestic cup finals – the FA Cup in 2020, 2021 and 2022, and the EFL Cup in 2019 and 2022. No side has ever lost six such finals in a row before.
● Liverpool will play in their 29th major domestic cup final (15 FA cup, 14 EFL Cup) – only Manchester United have ever appeared in more (31).
● Chelsea have scored 12 goals in this season’s EFL Cup, last netting more in a single campaign in 2012-13 (16). Their eight different goalscorers in this season’s competition (excluding own goals) is their most since 2014-15 (9), the last time they won the trophy.
● Liverpool have conceded exactly once in all five of their EFL Cup games this season. Only three teams have ever won the trophy without keeping a clean sheet in that campaign – West Brom in 1965-66, Birmingham in 2010-11 and Manchester City in 2015-16.
● This is the second major final between Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino and Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp, with Klopp’s Reds beating Pochettino’s Tottenham side in the 2019 UEFA Champions League final.
● This is Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino’s second major domestic cup final in charge of a Premier League side, with his Tottenham team losing 2-0 to Chelsea in this competition in 2015. He’s set to become the third manager to take charge of an EFL Cup final both for and against the same side, after Ron Saunders (for Norwich in 1973, against them in 1975) and Ron Atkinson (for Manchester United in 1983, against them in 1991 and 1994).
● This will be the eighth major final (domestic and European) Jürgen Klopp has taken charge of with Liverpool, second only to Bob Paisley (10) for major finals in charge of the Reds.
● Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling could feature in his fifth EFL Cup final, winning the trophy with Manchester City in 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2021. He would be the 12th player to have played in as many as five finals in the competition (combining second legs/replays to one final).
● Cody Gakpo has scored four goals in this season’s EFL Cup. The last Liverpool player to score more in a single campaign was Robbie Fowler, who scored six in 2000-01, including one in the final as the Reds beat Birmingham City on penalties.
Story courtesy of: efl.com