EFL Cup Fixtures: United vs. Spurs – A Classic Rivalry Renewed
Last night’s EFL Cup games brought plenty of thrill to many, with some rather quite interesting results;
Manchester United put in a solid showing to knock out Leicester City with a convincing 5-2 statement win; their biggest win since former manager, Erik ten Hag took over.
Crystal Palace edged out Aston Villa at the Villa Park in what seemed like a tight contest but the visitors did just enough to secure a quarter-final spot with an edgy 2-1 win.
Arsenal confidently took down Preston North End with three goals to nil at Deepdale, thanks to perpetual shades of brilliance from young 17-year old Ethan Nwaneri and Gabriel Jesus, amongst others.
Newcastle United stunned Chelsea with a convincing 2-0 home win, knocking the London giants out of the tournament.
Liverpool squeaked past Brighton with a narrow 3-2 win, thanks to a high-flying Cody Gakpo at the Amex Stadium.
Over in the previous round of fixtures that took place on Tuesday;
Southampton beat Stoke City and emerged victorious with a 3-2 scoreline over the Championship team.
Brentford played out a thrilling 1-1 draw at home to Sheffield Wednesday but managed to edge out victorious after which a dramatic penalty shootout out took place, ending with 5-4 in the host’s favour.
With these results, quite a few top teams have secured their spots in the next stage, while it was only a matter of closed victories for others.
The Quarterfinal Fixtures
Thanks to the draw, the quarterfinals also promises to be breathtaking, with some classic games set to kickoff in mid-December;
- Southampton vs. Liverpool: The defending champions will face a test on the South Coast.
- Manchester United vs. Tottenham: A renewed classic rivalry.
- Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace: A London derby showdown with plenty of history.
- Newcastle United vs. Brentford: Two in-form teams looking to square up against each other ahead of the semi-finals.
Quite notably, this is the first time in 14 years that no Championship clubs are in the quarterfinals; a truly convincing testament testament to the fierceness of the competition this year.
However, even though the exact dates are yet to be confirmed, these mouth-watering fixtures are expected to hold around the week of December 16th. With only four spot in the semifinals up for the taking, there is high anticipation already and December cannot come any quicker.
