Sides in England recently took a break from their respective league campaigns, as the third round of the Carabao Cup took place towards the end of September. It’s at this stage that the competition tends to heat up, with the top Premier League sides entering proceedings as they hope to go on and win the first piece of silverware of the season at Wembley in February.
There were plenty of talking points as well, as there were five all-Premier League encounters in the draw — including Chelsea vs Brighton and Hove Albion, Newcastle United vs Manchester City and Manchester United vs Crystal Palace. There were a couple of ‘cupsets’ in the football betting too, so without further ado, let’s have a quick recap of the third-round action.
Liverpool 3-1 Leicester City
Liverpool are making a habit of having to come back from behind to win, as this was the fifth time already this season that the Reds have gone 1-0 down and gone on to spare their blushes. Liverpool’s defence were caught sleeping early on once again, as Kasey McAteer gave Championship side Leicester City the lead just three minutes in at Anfield.
It wasn’t until the 48th minute that Jurgen Klopp’s side got back on level terms, with Cody Gakpo making it 1-1. Summer signing Dominik Szoboszlai saw his stock rise further with a stunning strike to make it 2-1, and Diogo Jota sealed the victory in the final minute.
Manchester United 3-0 Crystal Palace
Man United have not made the best start to the season, but there could be no complaints about this match as the Red Devils got the defence of their Carabao Cup title off to a perfect start, with a 3-0 victory over Premier League counterparts Crystal Palace.
Alejandro Garnacho gave Man United the lead in the 21st minute and Casemiro doubled the host’s advantage just six minutes later. Erik ten Hag’s side booked their place in the fourth round when Anthony Martial put them three goals to the good 10 minutes into the second half.
Newcastle United 1-0 Manchester City
Newcastle came agonisingly close to winning the Carabao Cup last season, ultimately losing the final to Manchester United, and the Magpies’ hopes of getting their hands on the silverware this year looked to be dashed straight away – as they were drawn to face favourites in the Premier League winner odds Man City in the third round.
Newcastle allowed Pep Guardiola’s side to control proceedings at St. James’ Park, as the visitors had 67% possession, but Alexander Isak delivered the killer blow when he scored the only goal of the game in the 61st minute. If Newcastle are to win the League Cup this year, they will need to do it the hard way as they’ve been drawn to face Man United next up.
Chelsea 1-0 Brighton and Hove Albion
Another fanbase who haven’t had much to celebrate in the early part of this season, Chelsea supporters finally got to leave Stamford Bridge with a smile on their faces following a 1-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
Again, there was very little to separate the two Premier League sides, and Brighton were arguably the better team on the night. But that mattered very little as Nicolas Jackson scored Chelsea’s only goal of the month in the 1-0 victory.
—
Full list of results:
Salford City 4-0 Burnley
Exeter City 1-0 Luton Town
Ipswich Town 3-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Manfield 2(3)-2(1) Peterborough United
Bradford City 0-2 Middlesbrough
Port Vale 2-1 Sutton United
Blackburn Rovers 5-2 Cardiff City
Bournemouth 2-0 Stoke City
Arsenal 1-0 Brentford
Aston Villa 1-2 Everton
Fulham 2-1 Norwich City
