THE CARABAO CUP quarter final draw has taken place with some bumper ties in store.
The four ties were picked out of the hat by Jimmy Bullard on Soccer AM and threw up some cracking fixtures.
CARABAO CUP QUARTER FINAL DRAW IN FULL
- Arsenal vs Sunderland
- Liverpool vs Leicester
- Brentford vs Chelsea
- Tottenham vs West Ham
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Stay up to date with all the latest from the Carabao Cup draw in our live blog…
A REMINDER
If you missed it earlier and don’t want to scroll down a few posts.
Save your thumb the effort, here’s draw in full:
- Tottenham vs West Ham
- Arsenal vs Sunderland
- Brentford vs Chelsea
- Liverpool vs Leicester
Ties to be played on December 21 and 22.
LET’S SMASH THEM’
Sunderland manager Lee Johnson may be having a little chuckle to himself after drawing Arsenal away in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
The Black Cats beat Championship QPR in the previous round and after the match Johnson wound up Gunners supporters.
Asked who he wanted to face in the quarter-final, Johnson said: “I’d love to have Arsenal away or Tottenham away.”
Many Arsenal fans are looking forward to taking on the Black Cats and are confident about beating the League One side.
One Gunner wrote on Twitter: “You got your wish big man. Arsenal let’s smash them please.
Another added: “Lee Johnson wanted an easy draw like Arsenal. Now he’s got it. Pre-match team talk done. Thank you Lee.”
NO CUP FUSS
Sunderland legend Michael Gray isn’t fussed about his side’s great run in the Carabao Cup.
The Black Cats have been drawn against Arsenal in the competition’s quarter-finals, but Gray is more worried about the club gaining promotion from League One, as he reckons they’ve been in the division for far too long.
He said: “We went through [to the quarter-finals], which is great, we went through on penalties, but I wasn’t really bothered.
I am not too fussed about that at the moment.
“We’ve been in League One too long, we need to get ourselves out of League One, we’re in a decent position at the moment and I know some sides are probably thinking it’s momentum, it’s confidence.”
GUNNING FOR GLORY
Arsenal will host Sunderland in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup.
The Black Cats are the lowest-ranked team left in the competition – and the only club not in the Premier League of the last eight.
Arsenal overcame Leeds in a comfortable 2-0 win on Tuesday to progress to the quarter-finals.
And though Mikel Arteta will fancy his chances against Sunderland, manager Lee Johnson will not make it easy for the Gunners.
A REMINDER
If you missed it earlier and don’t want to scroll down a few posts.
Save your thumb the effort, here’s draw in full:
- Tottenham vs West Ham
- Arsenal vs Sunderland
- Brentford vs Chelsea
- Liverpool vs Leicester
Ties to be played on December 21 and 22.
LATEST ODDS
Courtesy of Betfair:
BUSINESS END
And just looking further ahead – the semi-finals will be over two legs again and on January 4/5 and 11/12.
The final is set for Sunday 27 February at Wembley.
WAITING GAME
A reminder that those games will be played in the week before Christmas.
Will there be just two TV games again? I want to watch them all.
HOW ABOUT THAT?
Wow, some storylines there.
A west London derby between Brentford and Chelsea, another London derby between Spurs and West Ham, Brendan Rodgers back at Anfield.
Here’s the draw in full:
- Tottenham vs West Ham
- Arsenal vs Sunderland
- Brentford vs Chelsea
- Liverpool vs Leicester
AND FINALLY
A west London derby between Brentford and Chelsea!
The last draw out is…
Liverpool vs Leicester
ON WE GO
Tie number three is…
Brentford vs Chelsea
NEXT UP
What a start, a London derby between Spurs and West Ham.
Next tie is…
Arsenal vs Sunderland
FIRST TIE OUT
Tottenham vs West Ham
HERE WE GO
We’re all ready for the draw!!
THE WAIT GOES ON
Still waiting for Soccer AM to turn their attention to the draw, don’t worry you’ve not missed anything.
The suspense is agonising, I agree.
DATES FOR THE DIARY
Nearly time for the draw, but just to remind you when these games will be played.
The week beginning Monday 20th December – so most likely on Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd.
Let’s hope for a couple of Christmas cracker ties, sorry for the awful joke.
.Credit: PA:Empics Sport GO FOR IT
Arsenal legend Paul Merson reckons David Moyes and West Ham will never have a better opportunity of lifting the Carabao Cup.
The Hammers have knocked out both Manchester City and United and Merson believes they have to capitalise on that.
Although some people don’t think the League Cup means much, Merson thinks it would look on West Ham’s CV as they haven’t won a trophy in decades.
Plus Moyes hasn’t lifted a trophy for a while either, and Merson reckons the cup will be huge for him also.
Merson said: “West Ham haven’t won a trophy since 1980!” he wrote. “You’ve got to have a go now.
“It’s almost a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for some of these teams. No City in a competition they’ve dominated for so long – it was getting very predictable.
“People say it’s not an important competition. But come the final, everybody wants to be walking out at Wembley in it. What has David Moyes won? A Community Shield? This is a massive opportunity for him to finally put a big trophy on his CV.
“You’ve just knocked out both Manchester clubs, why wouldn’t you go for it now?”
FINAL COUNTDOWN
We’re about 25/30 minutes away from the draw – how excited are you feeling?
For those that don’t know, it will take place on Soccer AM on Sky Sports, which is better than some recent draw locations such as the bowls club they used last time.
IN IT TO WIN IT
Brentford boss Thomas Frank reckons his side can go all the way in the Carabao Cup.
They made the quarter-finals after seeing off Stoke in the last round and thinks Brentford call pull off a major coup despite all the bigger Prem clubs still in the competition.
An optimistic Frank said: “I just know one thing. We would like to do as well as possible in the League Cup.
“We’re now in the quarter-finals, why not try to win it? There are some massive clubs there but we’ll do our very best.”
FOURTH ROUND RESULTS
Cup holders Manchester City’s were dumped out of the competition by West Ham who defeated Pep Guardiola’s side on penalties at the London Stadium, ending their four-year reign.
Chelsea also skipped into the quarter-finals on penalties against Southampton.
Arsenal, who are now unbeaten in eight games, swept Leeds aside to secure their place in the last-eight.
Sunderland joined the pen-fest by edging QPR in a tense spot-kick shoot-out.
Prem giants Liverpool and Tottenham saw off Preston and Burnley respectively.
While Brentford made also made it through by seeing off a resilient Stoke side. while.
Last but not least, Leicester made sure they also left it to the last minute to qualify for the quarter-finals and beat Brighton on penalties following an enthralling 90 minutes.
BALL NUMBERS
Arsenal – 1
Brentford – 2
Chelsea – 3
Leicester – 4
Liverpool – 5
Sunderland – 6
Tottenham – 7
West Ham – 8
WHICH TEAMS ARE IN THE DRAW?
It is, of course, a quarter-final so there are eight teams in the pot for this round:
- Arsenal
- Chelsea
- Sunderland
- Tottenham
- Leicester
- Liverpool
- Brentford
- West Ham
TIME FOR A CUP OF TEA
Hello, good morning and welcome to SunSport’s live blog coverage of the Carabao Cup draw.
In-keeping with the competition’s habit of hosting the draw from weird and wonderful places around the world, today’s takes place on Soccer AM.
John Fendley and Jimmy Bullard are expected to draw the balls for this year’s last eight which take place in December.
Premier League big boys Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham are expecting to learn their fates today.
West Ham, Leicester, Brentford and former Prem mainstays Sunderland are also in the pot.
The Black Cats will be hoping to draw one of the big boys after playing recent seasons in League One.
As for Tottenham and Arsenal, it is the chance to win a trophy that has evaded them in recent seasons.
Either way, with penalty shootouts and possibly some fringe players in the mix it promises to be a thrilling round of football.
And who better to get the party started than Sky Sports funny men Fendley and Bullard?
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
