The Qatar 2022 World Cup kicked off this past Sunday to crown Argentina, world champion for the third time in its history (1978, 1986, 2022), in this case after beating France on penalties (4-2 after 3-3). But football does not stop, the big leagues and the cups are back. And in England the round of 16 of the Carabao Cup on offer this Thursday is nothing short of a new rivalry between Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
Pep Guardiola said on Saturday, due to the participation of many of its footballers in the World Cup (among them, Julián Álvarez, world champion with Argentina this Sunday), “We don’t have enough players to perform against Liverpoolbut the great football brains decided this calendar and let’s play the match”. The international ‘citizens’ are gradually returning, the last ones, before Julián Álvarez, being those from England and Portugal.
For Klopp, the very bad news at this break is that his winger Luis Díaz is injured again and it will be low until March. The Liverpool manager will be waiting to see if any of his World Cup players can feature against City. The ‘red’ defender Ibrahima Konaté lost this Sunday in the final with France against Argentina on penalties (4-2 after 3-3).
City and Liverpool have met twice this season and in both the ‘reds’ won: 3-1 in the Community Shield and 1-0 in the Premier. But the truth is that in the English championship Guardiola’s team is 2nd and Klopp’s is 6th, 10 points behind the ‘citizens’. Despite how difficult this Premier League season has been for Liverpool, a cup match, like this one in the last eight of the Carabao Cup, is always different.
CARABAO CUP (8th final)
December 20th
Milton Keynes Dons (3rd)-Leicester 20.45
Wolves-Gillingham (4th) 20.45
December 21
Blackburn (2nd)-Nottingham Forest 20.45
Charlton (3rd)-Brighton 20.45
Southampton-Lincoln (3rd) 20.5
Newcastle-Bournemouth 20.45
Manchester United-Burnley (2nd) 21-00
December 22nd
Manchester City-Liverpool 21.00
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
