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Liverpool took on Chelsea in the Carabao Cup this week. The Carabao Cup or the League Cup is the secondary cup competition in England after the FA Cup, where the winners are guaranteed of a Europa League spot.
Let us look at the 3 reasons why this defeat might help Liverpool's chances in the other essential competitions.
#1 Liverpool can concentrate on the Premier League after a perfect start this season:
This season, Jurgen Klopp has already strengthened his side bringing in Alisson from Roma, Fabinho from Monaco, Naby Keita from RB Leipzig and Shaqiri from the relegated Stoke City. While the front three has remained the same, Salah, Mane and Firmino are in full force this season as well. Sadio Mane has already got important goals for Liverpool this season while Salah is slowly coming back to his form last season. The midfield is solid which has been a characteristic of this Liverpool side. Henderson, Milner, Wijnaldum, and Keita are consistent performers and while Keita is still adjusting, the other two are great team players and always give their all in every match.
Though Liverpool has lost in the League Cup, Klopp's side has won all of his first six Premier League matches including wins over Tottenham and Leicester City. After this start, they have a two-point advantage over Chelsea and Manchester City. Last season, they have already shown that they can get the better of City.
In the past seasons, Liverpool's main gripe has been losing to teams against whom they should have won. This season, it seems to have improved as Klopp and his men have dispatched the likes of West Ham, Brighton, and Crystal Palace maintaining consistency. The Premier League should be Klopp's primary target this season.
#2 Liverpool can repeat their Champions League performance with a bolstered squad:
The 2017-18 season saw Liverpool participate in the Champions League qualifiers but they classified to the final defeating squads like Porto, Manchester City, and Roma in the way. Though their Premier League form was not consistent throughout the season, they showed enough character to go up against big teams from Europe and win over two legs when it mattered the most.
In the Knockout stages, James Milner, Jordan Henderson, and Oxlade-Chamberlain contributed to a very strong midfield three. Though Ox is out for most of this season with an injury, the new players in Fabinho, Keita Shaqiri provide new dimensions to the Liverpool midfield.
Fabinho has already been a defensive anchor in the Monaco midfield for some seasons now before coming to Liverpool, while additionally doubling up as center-back sometimes. Naby Keita is a complete box-to-box midfielder who can contribute both defensively and in attack as well, and can be the perfect replacement for Coutinho who left last season.
Xherdan Shaqiri provides the X-factor which Liverpool sometimes lacked last season and can come up as a super substitute and score important goals to make the difference. With added potential in attack, their defensive woes also look sorted with Alisson in goal and Virgil Van Dijk along with Lovren or Gomez in center back roles.
#3 Liverpool can now turn their attention to the primary cup competition, the FA Cup:
The League Cup is a premier tournament in the English league structure, but the teams that do progress to the latter stages have to participate in the final rounds just after the hectic Premier League Christmas fixtures. This just proves too tough for teams sometimes as witnessed with Manchester City last season. They had to balance a very good squad over four competitions, risking injury for their major players.
Add to that, the finals of the League Cup is played mid-season in February, when the Champions League Round of 16 matches are scheduled. Liverpool can much rather concentrate to balance the FA Cup with the Premier League and Champions League.
The FA Cup is more prestigious than the Carabao Cup as the winners have a chance to participate in the Community Shield as well. Liverpool has a strong squad and while players like Fabinho, Sturridge, and Shaqiri will not play every other match, the FA Cup is a perfect opportunity for them. The loss to Chelsea in the League Cup this week was just unfortunate as Eden Hazard scored a beauty.
The fixtures in the League Cup did not involve any seeding as well with any team having the possibility to face another. FA Cup will provide Liverpool the opportunity to test their bench strength and the current Liverpool squad does look like they can target the FA Cup along with the pressures of the Premier League and Champions League.
