Arsenal’s Carabao Cup Humiliation Ramps Pressure Up on Liverpool, Chelsea

When Liverpool and Chelsea started preparing for the 2026–27 season, both teams will have been particularly interested in the Carabao Cup.

Neither team will genuinely see themselves as Premier League title contenders—not in an era of Arsenal’s ruthlessness and Manchester City’s efficiency—but both will still believe they have the chance to end the season with silverware in the wild west that is cup soccer.

The season may well only be two months old, but we can safely say the Carabao Cup and FA Cup are likely to be the main source of hope for Liverpool and Chelsea, but one team’s journey in the former is set to come to a brutal end on Wednesday when the pair face off in the Carabao Cup fourth round at Anfield.

With Arsenal no longer a threat following their stunning defeat to League Two strugglers Fleetwood Town on Tuesday, victory has become even more important for both Liverpool and Chelsea as they seek to take one step closer to lifting a trophy this year.

Path to Carabao Cup Glory Has Opened Up Already

Arsenal squad — Arsenal are no longer a threat. | Nick Potts/PA Images/Getty Images

The majority of the fourth round of the Carabao Cup has not even been played yet, but every team left in the competition will now be sensing a genuine chance of victory.

Aside from Newcastle United’s triumph in 2025, the Carabao Cup has been won by a member of England’s “Big Six” in every year since 2013. Since Leicester City’s triumph in 2000, there have only been a further five winners not named Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur.

Even at this early stage of the competition, we have already lost three of those teams. Man Utd and Tottenham both crashed out in the third round, and Arsenal are now going to be watching the rest of the tournament from home.

One more is guaranteed to drop out on Wednesday when Liverpool host Chelsea, meaning the quarterfinals and beyond will be played with no more than two of the Big Six.

The door has been blown open here for either Liverpool or Chelsea to take advantage, safe in the knowledge that they should, on paper, be the second-best team left in the competition at the very least. Man City, first in the Premier League, take on third-placed Brighton & Hove Albion in their own fourth-round clash on Wednesday, eliminating another of England’s biggest threats in the process.

Chances to win silverware are not handed out on a plate, but the 2026–27 Carabao Cup truly seems to be an open fight. Man City may well still be the strongest contender, but the unpredictable nature of cup soccer means they are far from guaranteed to seal a 10th triumph in this competition come the summer.

Andoni Iraola Senses ‘Opportunity’ Available to Liverpool, Chelsea

Of the four trophies available to Liverpool this season, it is hardly controversial to suggest the Carabao Cup is the least glamorous in a group that also includes the FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League.

We have seen plenty of teams over the years disregard this competition, but Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola clearly knows his best chance of winning a trophy in his debut year at Anfield may well have just been presented to him.

“I think every competition is an opportunity, especially when you are the coach of Liverpool,” Iraola admitted. “You have to take it like this.

“I would love to win [against Chelsea] and have the chance to get further in the competition. But I know that we have to play very well, we have to beat a very good team. It’s also a team that doesn’t play in Europe, so for sure for them this competition is also very important. So, it’s not going to be easy.”

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