⚽ EFL Carabao Cup 2026/27 Season

[JiiBs]

No Champions League for Chelsea, and now they have been knocked out of the EFL competition and are left in the FA CUP as their only chance to win a trophy. They will not win the Premier League as we already know

We don’t all know that they wouldn’t win the premier league. The league is still very young and in time, they might pick up the pace in the race for the trophy.
There loss today wasn’t done in regular time, they had a good game in regular time but, weren’t able to keep the lead once they had it. The disappointing part to that was, it didn’t take them 3 minutes to lose the lead in the same fashion they got it. In the end, they lost on penalties and that’s pretty much anyone’s game.

[Samlucky O]

Not that the two penalty decisions where wrong but I believe it's Time the Carabao cup gets video assistant referee from this stage of the competition.
I don't think I understand or does it make sense to have Video assistant referee in the later stage of the competition when you can't have them now, it is just like the organizers wants the drama of questionable calls in this stage but what's it to be fair in the later stages because I don't think it's financial reasons.

From my point of view, it's like teams don't take the competition seriously, if you watch the big teams this is the time they reserve most of the first eleven players, give them some rest while they play it with other players that aren't getting regular game time. The organisers feel this stage is not paid more attention to but when the competition has advanced, as you said, I agree with you. Why will they introduce video assistant referee in the later stages than now if they have the competition at heart from the get go. Sometimes, I think these big clubs fail on purpose so they can shift the focus to much bigger challenge like the Champions League for those in it, the League and FA cup. Big clubs prioritize these competitions that the EFL cup.

[Tonimez]

Not that the two penalty decisions where wrong but I believe it's Time the Carabao cup gets video assistant referee from this stage of the competition.
I don't think I understand or does it make sense to have Video assistant referee in the later stage of the competition when you can't have them now, it is just like the organizers wants the drama of questionable calls in this stage but what's it to be fair in the later stages because I don't think it's financial reasons.

From my point of view, it's like teams don't take the competition seriously, if you watch the big teams this is the time they reserve most of the first eleven players, give them some rest while they play it with other players that aren't getting regular game time. The organisers feel this stage is not paid more attention to but when the competition has advanced, as you said, I agree with you. Why will they introduce video assistant referee in the later stages than now if they have the competition at heart from the get go. Sometimes, I think these big clubs fail on purpose so they can shift the focus to much bigger challenge like the Champions League for those in it, the League and FA cup. Big clubs prioritize these competitions that the EFL cup.

The real reason is because the big clubs now have smaller clubs to play, they play championship and league one and two and there's no way they will take these teams seriously. A club in the first tier league can not be scared of a team in league two which is why they rest most of their players for a bigger match but also hoping to win the match. It continues until the advanced stage when they start meeting more of championship and premier League teams and they become more serious.

If you check the competition you will realise that the winner almost always falls within the premier League teams because that's where the stronger teams are. Of course you can not compare EFL to champions League and premier League. What happened to Arsenal will always happen once in a while because these lower division clubs already understood that the premier League clubs will rest some key players while playing them which will make them intensify their pressure to know if they can get something good out of the game. Arsenal fell for the plan and lost out of the competition.

[Uhwuchukwu53]

Not that the two penalty decisions where wrong but I believe it's Time the Carabao cup gets video assistant referee from this stage of the competition.
I don't think I understand or does it make sense to have Video assistant referee in the later stage of the competition when you can't have them now, it is just like the organizers wants the drama of questionable calls in this stage but what's it to be fair in the later stages because I don't think it's financial reasons.

From my point of view, it's like teams don't take the competition seriously, if you watch the big teams this is the time they reserve most of the first eleven players, give them some rest while they play it with other players that aren't getting regular game time. The organisers feel this stage is not paid more attention to but when the competition has advanced, as you said, I agree with you. Why will they introduce video assistant referee in the later stages than now if they have the competition at heart from the get go. Sometimes, I think these big clubs fail on purpose so they can shift the focus to much bigger challenge like the Champions League for those in it, the League and FA cup. Big clubs prioritize these competitions that the EFL cup.

Over time it's has been the happening of the game that many big team is not ready to risk their first eleven, the league are not taken serious mostly when the team has bigger game ahead they always used those that are not regular imagine Man City removing haaland as striker , before I realized the setting of this games and the management strategies many many team they don't consider the stage very important, the value of their key player matter mostly when strong match are there for them.

[Mallampue]

The real reason is because the big clubs now have smaller clubs to play, they play championship and league one and two and there's no way they will take these teams seriously. A club in the first tier league can not be scared of a team in league two which is why they rest most of their players for a bigger match but also hoping to win the match. It continues until the advanced stage when they start meeting more of championship and premier League teams and they become more serious.

I feel that this is one way for some big clubs to rotate players because apart from giving playing time for some players who are subscribed to the reserves, this is also to do some testing for young players to get flight hours and rest the core players so that they stay fit when they play in serious competitions.

For example match for Arsenal vs Fleetwood. In the first half only a few players were used as a focus such as Gyokerez, Kai Havertz or some players in midfield and defense who have always been players in the EPL, the rest were some players who did not have a chance because of the close competition and for this match because Arsenal also did not really consider this as a competition they made the main focus then Arteta made some changes so that the players who didn't get the time were given the opportunity and their core players were more in reserve.

[OsaiEmma]

Not that the two penalty decisions where wrong but I believe it's Time the Carabao cup gets video assistant referee from this stage of the competition.
I don't think I understand or does it make sense to have Video assistant referee in the later stage of the competition when you can't have them now, it is just like the organizers wants the drama of questionable calls in this stage but what's it to be fair in the later stages because I don't think it's financial reasons.

From my point of view, it's like teams don't take the competition seriously, if you watch the big teams this is the time they reserve most of the first eleven players, give them some rest while they play it with other players that aren't getting regular game time. The organisers feel this stage is not paid more attention to but when the competition has advanced, as you said, I agree with you. Why will they introduce video assistant referee in the later stages than now if they have the competition at heart from the get go. Sometimes, I think these big clubs fail on purpose so they can shift the focus to much bigger challenge like the Champions League for those in it, the League and FA cup. Big clubs prioritize these competitions that the EFL cup.

And there is less financial incentive in the competition too. I think that's one of the reasons sophisticated technologies aren't used in the competition.

But I don't think they fell on purpose though, didn't you see how they were happy and somewhat sad after winning and losing—not just small teams had this reaction, the so called "big" teams did too. Even though less money isn't in it, I believe each team tried to give in their best.

[hmbdofficial]

No Champions League for Chelsea, and now they have been knocked out of the EFL competition and are left in the FA CUP as their only chance to win a trophy. They will not win the Premier League as we already know, so Xabi in other to secure a trophy in his first season needs to try and win that. But the way Xabi the coach is performing, I don't understand because why can he have a player like Estavao in a game and he is choosing Emegha a player that is unknown. Arsenal is now out, Chelsea out too, maybe either one of Manchester City or Liverpool will win it. I will think Enzo Maresca can do it with Manchester City because he is very good in cup competitions like this.

Well, even though Chelsea were knocked out of the EFL cup last night I will still give credit to the team performance. It was Liverpool they played again and they even played above my expectations I won’t lie. They got the lead from the penalty  spot but it only took 3 minutes for the Liverpool to reply with a goal from the penalty spot also. Chelsea wasn’t knocked out on a regular time, it was penalty and when a game gets to penalties anything could happen the better side can still lose from penalties shootout.

Talking about Chelsea not winning any trophy this season should not even be concerning, the team is trying to build a project. If they can atleast qualify for the champions league next season, it’s a good improvement from last season that they ended 10th position on the league table.

About Estavao, I felt bad for him honestly. I want him to stay at Chelsea but I think Alonso probably doesn’t like him. If he get a chance to move to a club better than Chelsea, I’ll be very much happy for him but not moving to a club that isn’t on Chelsea level.

[Chilwell]

Over time it's has been the happening of the game that many big team is not ready to risk their first eleven, the league are not taken serious mostly when the team has bigger game ahead they always used those that are not regular imagine Man City removing haaland as striker , before I realized the setting of this games and the management strategies many many team they don't consider the stage very important, the value of their key player matter mostly when strong match are there for them.

There are some risk which need to be taken but at this moment it is very dangerous for any team to risk their first eleven, there are matches ahead which are far more important than this competition, I am not underestimating this competition but when you are at the top level in the Premier League you will not like to risk too much, unless you have enough players that will cover it up. I don't blame any top teams that were knocked out, for instance Arsenal, you know no matter how good you are, we also have to be afraid of getting injured because something happened to your key players everything will be ruined.

It is very difficult to get everything and that is why we have to match some so that we will catch up with others. Arsenal eliminated from this competition will allow them to focus on the ones ahead, and that we allowed them to have rest of mind because their mind will not be divided again.

[yenerbatmaz]

This is the second time a 4th tier team is knocking Arsenal out of the EFL although with the last being over a decade ago in the same fashion of penalty shootout. What surprised me yesterday was the Fleetwood were able to compose themselves yesterday. There was this instance when the goalkeeper has to make 2 solid saves in a minute to keep his side in the game. With the kind of odd Arsenal was given, matches like that should have ended with at least 4 goals in their favour. I know this wasn't expected but its one of the days to always bear in mind that football can happen to any team.

I watched the highlights of the Fleetwood vs. Arsenal match. Arsenal fielded a side very close to their ideal starting eleven, with many well-known players on the pitch.
I also didn't understand why the referee sent off Dowman; there was nothing in that challenge to warrant a red card. Things got a bit heated afterward, but I was surprised that only Dowman was shown a red card.
Arsenal applied a lot of pressure in the final five minutes, but Fleetwood goalkeeper Lynch made some impressive saves—he even cleared one shot right off the goal line.
In matches like this, when it goes to penalties, your chances of advancing are essentially 50/50; however, after Guimaraes missed his spot-kick, Arsenal were eliminated.

[Ashawowo(OS)]

About Estavao, I felt bad for him honestly. I want him to stay at Chelsea but I think Alonso probably doesn’t like him. If he get a chance to move to a club better than Chelsea, I’ll be very much happy for him but not moving to a club that isn’t on Chelsea level.

I don't know what is Alonso's problem with Estevao. Honestly, I feel bad too. He could've been able to trouble Liverpool's defense more than Welbeck. Barcelona is closely monitoring him, I just wish they sign him by January or so. Alonso is clearly not interested in him.

I don't see anyone saying much about Fofana, he was Liverpool's hero of the night, he caused the handball that gave them the penalty and missed the penalty that eliminated Chelsea, he actually played for both sides in yesterday's match.

[Hewlet]

No Champions League for Chelsea, and now they have been knocked out of the EFL competition and are left in the FA CUP as their only chance to win a trophy. They will not win the Premier League as we already know

We don’t all know that they wouldn’t win the premier league. The league is still very young and in time, they might pick up the pace in the race for the trophy.

So with your full chest you consider that Chelsea is capable of winning the premier league with the way they are playing relative to other teams that are in the current top four? how ambitious of you to think that as a possibility. I expected teams like them and the likes of Manchester united that knows that they don't have a place in the premier league and the champions league to take advantage of smaller trophies but they always fumble just the way they are still not doing well in the premier league.

You can not continue to drop point and remain inconsistent thinking that in some way, you can bounce back when the season has gotten to a certain height. if they can not get it well at this early phase of the league, what are the odds that they will do any better as the league progress towards the end.

[Shadiq]

So with your full chest you consider that Chelsea is capable of winning the premier league with the way they are playing relative to other teams that are in the current top four? how ambitious of you to think that as a possibility. I expected teams like them and the likes of Manchester united that knows that they don't have a place in the premier league and the champions league to take advantage of smaller trophies but they always fumble just the way they are still not doing well in the premier league.

You can not continue to drop point and remain inconsistent thinking that in some way, you can bounce back when the season has gotten to a certain height. if they can not get it well at this early phase of the league, what are the odds that they will do any better as the league progress towards the end.

Such ambitions are common for the team's supporters, regardless of the reality, their faith in the team will remain. The reality of Chelsea is that they have one trophy they can win, which is the FA Cup. But Chelsea fans still think that they will win the Premier League as well. But the reality is that there are doubts about whether Chelsea can secure a top four position in the Premier League.

Manchester United should be removed from your statement, because this season they are fighting in the Champions League. Although their chances of winning the title are very low, they have a place there. These two teams may not get a place in the Champions League next season, because it is very difficult to finish in the top four of the Premier League with their performance.

[DubemIfedigbo001]

I also didn't understand why the referee sent off Dowman; there was nothing in that challenge to warrant a red card. Things got a bit heated afterward, but I was surprised that only Dowman was shown a red card.

The red card was a very controversial one and since there is no VAR to confirm the extent of the aggression, the referee made every decision on his own. Dowman was given the Red card in the 85th minute, the game was almost over, so it is no excuse for their loss. I was only very surprised that a fourth tier club was able to eliminate Arsenal from the carabao cup, it just didn't sound nice.

Brighton gave Manchester City lots of trouble, they were only lucky they qualitifed. Brighton lost yesterday but with pride of having a good fight. Their form keeps improving, they would get something out of this season if they can be consistent. Chelsea had many scoring opportunities to eliminate Liverpool which they could not take, Roggers would've done better to beat the single man and score the goal.

[Agbam]

Not that the two penalty decisions where wrong but I believe it's Time the Carabao cup gets video assistant referee from this stage of the competition.
I don't think I understand or does it make sense to have Video assistant referee in the later stage of the competition when you can't have them now, it is just like the organizers wants the drama of questionable calls in this stage but what's it to be fair in the later stages because I don't think it's financial reasons.

From my point of view, it's like teams don't take the competition seriously, if you watch the big teams this is the time they reserve most of the first eleven players, give them some rest while they play it with other players that aren't getting regular game time. The organisers feel this stage is not paid more attention to but when the competition has advanced, as you said, I agree with you. Why will they introduce video assistant referee in the later stages than now if they have the competition at heart from the get go. Sometimes, I think these big clubs fail on purpose so they can shift the focus to much bigger challenge like the Champions League for those in it, the League and FA cup. Big clubs prioritize these competitions that the EFL cup.

It’s true that big teams often don’t give it a priority but it’s also important because it’s an opportunity for them to give other reserve players an opportunity to play and rest the regular starters and explore how the squad can be in cases of uncertainty.

The Champions League and Premier League takes the higher priority but at the end of the season, what matters is what you achieved. If you ended trophyless and another wins even atleast the Carabao Cup it’s a bragging rights for them and somehow they may have had a better season than the team without.

[Antidote47k]

No Champions League for Chelsea, and now they have been knocked out of the EFL competition and are left in the FA CUP as their only chance to win a trophy. They will not win the Premier League as we already know

We don’t all know that they wouldn’t win the premier league. The league is still very young and in time, they might pick up the pace in the race for the trophy.
There loss today wasn’t done in regular time, they had a good game in regular time but, weren’t able to keep the lead once they had it. The disappointing part to that was, it didn’t take them 3 minutes to lose the lead in the same fashion they got it. In the end, they lost on penalties and that’s pretty much anyone’s game.

The match was a weird one for me, practically all the goals in the game came from penalties, if Chelsea has joao Pedro in the game it would have been a whole different game, I think Chelsea should put their full focus on the fa cup, the chances of them winning the league is pretty low if I’m being honest. Arsenal have such a strong squad and currently don’t look like they’ll drop points anytime soon, I don’t want to comment on city although they have an equally strong squad imo and have a huge chance at winning the league, until after their sanction hearing, I’m not going to speculate on them

[Showlove01]

It’s true that big teams often don’t give it a priority but it’s also important because it’s an opportunity for them to give other reserve players an opportunity to play and rest the regular starters and explore how the squad can be in cases of uncertainty.

The Champions League and Premier League takes the higher priority but at the end of the season, what matters is what you achieved. If you ended trophyless and another wins even atleast the Carabao Cup it’s a bragging rights for them and somehow they may have had a better season than the team without.

I agree with you that much priority is or should be given to premier league and champions league, but I want you to know that someone who has a winning mentality will always ensure to win no matter the value of that particular thing because nothing is sure or guarantee that they will win... There is nothing wrong if a Coach decide to play his first Eleven but he should be very strategic in the sense that when the first Eleven is winning with a good margin then he can substitute as much as possible.

[knowngunman]

We don’t all know that they wouldn’t win the premier league. The league is still very young and in time, they might pick up the pace in the race for the trophy.
There loss today wasn’t done in regular time, they had a good game in regular time but, weren’t able to keep the lead once they had it. The disappointing part to that was, it didn’t take them 3 minutes to lose the lead in the same fashion they got it. In the end, they lost on penalties and that’s pretty much anyone’s game.

And do you really see Chelsea as a team that might pick up any time soon? Let be honest, one must be deceiving themselves if they think Chelsea is in the title race this season. Is there anything you see in Chelsea this season that gives you confidence they'll suddenly turn up and become consistent? The attack is a little bit better but their defense is leaking, they can't play without conceding a goal. If you play Chelsea both teams to score and Chelsea score first, then you should be happy for your ticket because the opponent will definitely score back. I'm surprised they were able to push the game to penalty shootout.

[laspol65]

The match was a weird one for me, practically all the goals in the game came from penalties, if Chelsea has joao Pedro in the game it would have been a whole different game, I think Chelsea should put their full focus on the fa cup, the chances of them winning the league is pretty low if I’m being honest.

Yes, Chelsea should definitely give importance to this season, they performed in such a way, of course it was the most competitive match. But I have never felt that the competition between the two teams was only through penalties, it was the most mysterious match I have ever seen. But in the end, Chelsea lost on penalties, and Liverpool collected the old points.

[Lida93]

Not that the two penalty decisions where wrong but I believe it's Time the Carabao cup gets video assistant referee from this stage of the competition.
I don't think I understand or does it make sense to have Video assistant referee in the later stage of the competition when you can't have them now, it is just like the organizers wants the drama of questionable calls in this stage but what's it to be fair in the later stages because I don't think it's financial reasons.

From my point of view, it's like teams don't take the competition seriously, if you watch the big teams this is the time they reserve most of the first eleven players, give them some rest while they play it with other players that aren't getting regular game time. The organisers feel this stage is not paid more attention to but when the competition has advanced, as you said, I agree with you. Why will they introduce video assistant referee in the later stages than now if they have the competition at heart from the get go. Sometimes, I think these big clubs fail on purpose so they can shift the focus to much bigger challenge like the Champions League for those in it, the League and FA cup. Big clubs prioritize these competitions that the EFL cup.

It’s true that big teams often don’t give it a priority but it’s also important because it’s an opportunity for them to give other reserve players an opportunity to play and rest the regular starters and explore how the squad can be in cases of uncertainty.

The Champions League and Premier League takes the higher priority but at the end of the season, what matters is what you achieved. If you ended trophyless and another wins even atleast the Carabao Cup it’s a bragging rights for them and somehow they may have had a better season than the team without.

I wonder why a very big competition like the Carabao cup wouldn't engage the use of VAR until certain stage of the competition, for me this goes a long way to undermine the integrity of not only the game but English football entirely.
The Carabao cup is one of the cup games that involves English clubs from the EPL, the championship, the league one and other lower tier clubs in England so why shouldn't the complete rules be engaged. The referee and the linesmen struggles a lot and this continues to happen at these stages of the competition due to the absence of the video assistant referee (VAR).

[Solokan]

The game initially ended in a 1 - 1 draw, needless say that Arsenal played a very disappointing game tonight, they had several opportunities but failed to convert any of those to goals, their performance in the first half was nothing to write home about.
Fleetwood on the other hand had a very strong defence and a good goal keeper, this I believe is what contributed majorly to their success tonight..
As an Arsenal fan, I am very disappointed with their performance but on the other hand, I am happy for Fleetwood Town, wishing them more wins going forward.

.I thought arsenal would easily beat Fleetwood but unfortunately arsenal couldn't Arsenal ultimately losT because their players couldn't convert all of their penalty kicks Admittedly Fleetwood's strengths were superior The Fleetwood playersand fans seemed happy proud to have beaten last season's Premier League champions andlast season's UCLrunnersupNow I'm curious aboutFleetwood's next match whether they'll perform well again Now arsenal's focus is solelyonthe Premier League and UCLand I hope arsennal can bounce back and not let this defeat affect their performance intheir upcoming matches.,