How Liverpool’s Carabao Cup final spot will affect Premier League title race with Arsenal | Football | Sport
Liverpool’s progression to the Carabao Cup final could have significant implications for the Premier League title race.
The Reds are due to face Newcastle at Wembley on March 16, resulting in their league match against Aston Villa being moved from March 15 to February 19.
Currently leading the league, Liverpool are six points ahead of Arsenal, and have a game in hand following the postponement of their Merseyside derby with Everton due to Storm Darragh. This match has been rescheduled for February 12.
With Liverpool reaching the final and Arsenal exiting in the semi-finals, Arteta’s side will then have a game in hand after Liverpool play Villa a week later.
Consequently, Liverpool could extend their lead to 12 points as Arsenal‘s match against Chelsea on March 16 is set to proceed as planned.
However, this also means Liverpool will face a hectic schedule of games over the next month. Starting with their FA Cup fourth round tie against Plymouth Argyle on Sunday (Feb 9), Liverpool will play six matches within just 17 days.
This comes after Slot suggested that English clubs should be permitted to select larger matchday squads due to the demanding schedule.
Speaking ahead of Liverpool‘s encounter with Tottenham, Slot expressed his confusion over the limited matchday squad sizes in England, remarking: “That is one of the only things I don’t understand here in England,” he said.
“Everywhere around the world, and in Europe as well when we play Champions League, we can take 23 players to the game and we are here in a country where we play the most games – especially the likes of Aston Villa, us, Arsenal, Chelsea, all the ones that are playing in Europe – and we have the League Cup over here and we have the FA Cup.”
He added, “So, we play so, so many games, so if you are able to play all these games you need a big squad.
“That seems fair to me and then one of the things that is so important for a manager, so to pick the first XI is difficult, to tell someone that he is not even in the squad makes it even harder.”
Slot concluded by questioning: “So, I don’t understand why we don’t go to 23 in this country because this country plays the most games everywhere around the world and we only have 20 players that we can take to the games.
“So, it’s not for that game, because nine substitutes are more than enough, but to keep the dressing room going because you need more than 20 players in this country because we play so many games.”
