Chelsea and Liverpool will lock horns in the EFL Cup final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday February 25th afternoon.
Liverpool are the most successful side in the history of the League Cup, lifting the trophy on nine occasions, with their last success coming in 2022, while Chelsea have won the trophy five times, last triumphing in 2015.
This contest is a repeat of the 2021-22 final, with Liverpool winning 11-10 on penalties after the two teams could not be separated in normal or extra-time.
Two of the powerhouses of English football will now lock horns for the trophy once again, with Mauricio Pochettino looking to deliver his first silverware since arriving as Chelsea boss.
Here, MS News Ug Sports Desk takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two sides.
Since their first-ever competitive meeting in 1907, Chelsea and Liverpool have locked horns on 196 occasions, with Liverpool prevailing 85 times and Chelsea winning 65 of the other fixtures.
Two of Liverpool’s most recent successes have come in penalty shootouts, winning by that method to claim the EFL Cup trophy back in 2022.
That was the ninth particular clash between Chelsea and Liverpool in this competition – the 10th scheduled for Wembley Stadium on Sunday – with all but two of those occasions coming within the last 19 years.
The first-ever League Cup tie took place in 1977, Kenny Dalglish and Jimmy Case getting on the scoresheet in a 2-0 victory at Anfield.
As many as 23 years passed by before another encounter in this tournament, with Robbie Fowler scoring the extra-time winner as Liverpool emerged victorious by a 2-1 scoreline in a third-round fixture in November 2000.
Chelsea’s first-ever win over Liverpool, and arguably their most significant, in this competition came in 2005 as they won 3-2 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, with Steven Gerrard scoring an own goal and Mateja Kezman famously scoring the winner in extra time.
That triumph represented Jose Mourinho’s first trophy in English football, but the Portuguese had departed earlier in 2007-08 when Chelsea won 2-0 in a fifth-round tie at Stamford Bridge, with Frank Lampard and Andriy Shevchenko getting on the scoresheet.
Almost four years would go by before Liverpool got their revenge at the same stage in 2011-12, Maxi Rodriguez and Martin Kelly netting in the second half as the Merseyside giants won a game that featured two much-changed starting lineups.
In the 2014-15 campaign, Chelsea and Liverpool would meet in the semi-finals, with a young Raheem Sterling scoring a penalty for Liverpool after Eden Hazard’s opener in the first leg at Anfield.
The tie would be decided in the second leg courtesy of Branislav Ivanovic’s 94th-minute goal in extra time, before Chelsea went on to defeat Tottenham Hotspur in the final.
Next would come the dramatic third-round encounter in September 2018 when Chelsea overturned Daniel Sturridge’s opener through goals from Emerson Palmieri and Hazard, the latter scoring one of his most memorable strikes in a Chelsea shirt with seven minutes remaining at Anfield.
In what was the first of two Wembley finals in 2021-22, Liverpool would win the EFL Cup in February 2022, with an entertaining goalless draw being followed by a penalty shootout that featured 21 successive conversions before Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga sent his spot kick high over the crossbar, gifting Liverpool an 11-10 triumph and their ninth League Cup trophy.
Meanwhile after five admirable but agonising trophyless years as Tottenham Hotspur head coach, current Chelsea incumbent Mauricio Pochettino is potentially just 90 or 120 minutes away from earning a belated major honour in English football – one which many did not give the mid-table Blues a hope of winning when the season commenced.
Chelsea have also been forced to navigate their way around an additional contest in comparison to Liverpool owing to their failure to qualify for Europe, but AFC Wimbledon, Brighton & Hove Albion, Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough have all tried and failed to block the Blues’ path to Wembley.
Michael Carrick’s Boro led at half time in their two-legged semi-final thanks to a 1-0 Riverside success, but Chelsea responded emphatically with a 6-1 Stamford Bridge slaughter to reach EFL Cup final number 10, where they will endeavour to collect their winners’ medals for the sixth time in tournament history.
Both of the Blues’ last two appearances in the EFL Cup showpiece have ended in penalty-shootout despair, though, and a new page of unwanted English football history could now be written by Chelsea, who are at risk of becoming the first team in the land to ever lose six domestic cup finals on the trot.
In brighter news, Pochettino’s men bring a three-game unbeaten run with them to Wembley – securing back-to-back 3-1 wins over Aston Villa (FA Cup) and Crystal Palace (Premier League) before swallowing a bitter pill in a hard-earned 1-1 draw with Manchester City – the latter of which saw a deflected Rodri strike penetrate the Blues’ seemingly unbreakable backline.
None of Leicester City, Bournemouth, West Ham United or Fulham faced an unbreakable Liverpool backline, meanwhile, but despite conceding in all of their EFL Cup affairs so far this season, the Reds’ propensity for multiple-goal showings and terrific turnarounds puts them on the brink of the first step towards a famous quadruple.
Jurgen Klopp will be manning his technical area for the final time in EFL Cup circumstances on Sunday afternoon, where Liverpool will bid to reach double figures in tournament successes – already hoisting the crown aloft an unparalleled nine times – and a 14th appearance in the final will also be a record-extending achievement.
Only four of the Reds’ previous 13 outings in the EFL Cup showpiece have seen them come out second best, but the travelling fans may be in it for the long haul once again this weekend, as each of their side’s last three appearances in the final have seen the destiny of the title decided by spot kicks.
Still vying for Premier League, Europa League and FA Cup glory at this juncture, Liverpool trek south on the back of three successive triumphs over Burnley, Brentford and Luton Town – notching at least three goals in each of those victories – although each of their last seven contests has seen Klopp’s men both score and concede.
However, one of those matches was January’s 4-1 crushing of Chelsea in the Premier League at Anfield, which extended their unbeaten streak over the West London outfit to eight games and also ended a run of seven successive draws between the sides after 90 minutes. Two of those stalemates came at Wembley in 2022, though, where Chelsea fell at the final 12-yard hurdle in the EFL Cup and FA Cup, so revenge will be the dish of the day for those clad in blue.
LEAGUE CUP HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
August 30, 1977: Liverpool 2-0 Chelsea (second round)
November 1, 2000: Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea (third round)
February 27, 2005: Chelsea 3-2 Liverpool (final)
December 19, 2007: Chelsea 2-0 Liverpool (fifth round)
November 29, 2011: Chelsea 0-2 Liverpool (fifth round)
January 20, 2015: Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea (semi-final, first leg)
January 27, 2015: Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool (semi-final, second leg)
September 26, 2018: Liverpool 1-2 Chelsea (third round)
February 27, 2022: Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool (Liverpool win on penalties, final)
Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 158
Chelsea wins: 48
Draws: 39
Liverpool wins: 71
Chelsea’s masterful defensive display at the Etihad came in spite of a few selection concerns at the back, as none of Benoit Badiashile (groin), Reece James (thigh), Wesley Fofana (knee) or Marc Cucurella (ankle) played in that game, and only the latter has a slim chance of coming back for the weekend.
Soon-to-be 40-year-old Thiago Silva – who has lost all three of his domestic cup finals with Chelsea – also relinquished his place in the squad against Man City owing to a groin concern and is still a doubt for the final, but Pochettino will surely see no need to alter his rearguard formula.
As such, Djordje Petrovic could retain possession of the gloves ahead of Robert Sanchez – now back from a knee problem and personal issue – but Carney Chukwuemeka (ankle), Lesley Ugochukwu (thigh) and former Liverpool target Romeo Lavia (also thigh) will be missing from the ranks as well.
Onto the ravaged Reds, who must cope without all of Alisson Becker (hamstring), Trent Alexander-Arnold (knee), Ben Doak (knee), Stefan Bajcetic (calf), Joel Matip (ACL), Diogo Jota (knee), Thiago Alcantara (muscle) and Curtis Jones (shin) on Sunday, and large question marks are still hovering above the heads of others.
After leaving the Brentford game a little worse for wear, neither Mohamed Salah nor Darwin Nunez were passed fit for Wednesday’s clash with Luton, and Pep Lijnders said on Friday that the duo would require last-minute fitness tests over the weekend – thigh victim Dominik Szoboszlai is in the same boat.
Regardless of Nunez and Salah’s respective fitness levels, Cody Gakpo has earned his EFL Cup stars this season with four goals in the competition – only Morgan Rogers boasts more with five – while Harvey Elliott ran Luton ragged in Salah’s place on Wednesday and is in line for Liverpool appearance number 101 at Wembley.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Petrovic; Gusto, Disasi, Colwill, Chilwell; Caicedo, Fernandez; Palmer, Gallagher, Sterling; Jackson
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Endo, Mac Allister; Elliott, Gakpo, Diaz
