Carabao Cup kicks off Liverpool’s Quadruple quest, while Chelsea’s

LONDON — The first trophy of the English season was claimed on Sunday, and in some style, as Chelsea and Liverpool played out a Carabao Cup final for the ages at Wembley (stream a replay on ESPN+). The sides combined to put the ball in the back of the net on four occasions, only for the offside flag to go up after each instance. Yet, despite the theatrics, 120 scoreless minutes passed.

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Edouard Mendy and Caoimhin Kelleher were largely the reason why. They were nothing short of superb, each keeping their team in the contest numerous times. And, in fact, the keepers would determine this final.

Kepa Arrizabalaga was introduced for the shootout, replacing Mendy in the final moments of extra-time. He and Kelleher failed to stop any of the first 20 penalty attempts, and the Liverpool keeper converted try no. 21, only for spot-kick specialist Kepa to sky his effort well over the bar to see the Reds win an 11-10 penalty shootout.

So, what can we take from Sunday’s truly epic game? Mark Ogden (Liverpool) and James Olley (Chelsea) break down the contest from both perspectives.

Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp has now won five trophies as Liverpool manager. In three months’ time, he could add three more and create history at the same time by becoming the first English team to achieve a quadruple of the Carabao Cup, FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League.

At this juncture, with so many games still to play, achieving a clean sweep of competitions appears to be a huge challenge, but the Carabao Cup penalty shootout triumph against Chelsea means that Liverpool are already a quarter of the way towards an unprecedented achievement.

Manchester United‘s treble success in 1999, when Sir Alex Ferguson’s team won the league, FA Cup and Champions League, remains the high-water mark in the English game. Liverpool managed their own cup treble in 2001 by winning both domestic cups and the UEFA Cup, and Manchester City won all three domestic trophies in 2019, but nobody has ever come close to a quadruple.

Yet Liverpool now have the opportunity do it after overcoming Chelsea to win the Carabao Cup for a record ninth time.

In this game, Liverpool undoubtedly rode their luck. Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount both missed clear first-half chances to score for Chelsea before Mount hit the post early in the second half. Kai Havertz then had two goals ruled out for offside, while Romelu Lukaku had another goal chalked off despite the Chelsea forward initially appearing to be onside on video replays.

Despite the chances created by Chelsea, though, and their own failure to create enough opportunities, Liverpool still found a way to get their hands on the trophy. What about the other three competitions they can still win?

The Premier League appears the biggest mountain to climb in the weeks ahead, but having been 12 points behind City earlier this month, Liverpool are now just six behind, with a game in hand and a trip to the Etihad still to come in April. Liverpool have little margin for error in the league, but they have at least put…