Capital One Cup an opportunity for underachievers

The Capital One Cup represents an opportunity for the likes of Premier League underachievers Liverpool and Tottenham to win a trophy this season

We now know who will be in the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup, after last night’s quarter-final ties.

Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and surprisingly League One Sheffield United have made it to the last four of the competition.

Chelsea will take on Liverpool over two-legs, while Spurs will face the third tier Blades.

This competition is another opportunity for the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham to claim silverware this season.

Inconsistent

Tottenham and Liverpool have encountered quite similar seasons in the fact that both have been wildly inconsistent.

The pair were two of seven teams that were expected to challenge for the top four, but at the moment neither side has shown enough consistency to look like they could threaten those Champions League spots.

If neither claim a top four spot then winning silverware would definitely be a good alternative, even if it is the much-maligned league cup.

Difficult

Liverpool have of course got the more difficult draw on paper drawing Premier League leaders Chelsea. Blues boss Jose Mourinho has rested some of his top players in the league cup, but they have still been able to put out strong teams.

The fact that Mourinho played the likes of Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas and John Terry in the quarter-finals against Derby showed that he is taking the competition seriously. The Portuguese is a winner and no doubt he will want to win every game possible this season.

He will likely field a strong team in the two games and will not take Liverpool likely. The league cup was the first ever trophy that Mourinho won in English football back in 2005, against Liverpool.

Confident

Tottenham will be confident that they can defeat League One Sheffield United and book their place in the final. The league cup was the last trophy that Spurs claimed in 2008. The men from north London also finished as runners-up a year later.

Spurs are still involved in the Europa League, with the FA Cup to come in January and the chase for fourth place seemingly very open, this competition probably would not be their priority this season. However, now that Pochettino’s team are so close to winning the trophy then they have to take it seriously.

As Southampton will testify Sheffield United will be no pushovers and in recent games you just never know what to expect from Spurs. However, you would expect the expensively assembled Spurs team to have too much quality over two legs for the third tier team.

The Blades are currently occupying a play-off place in League One and under Nigel Clough seem to moving in the right direction. Whoever they drew in the semi-finals it was going to be difficult, with all three of the other teams having finished in the Premier League’s top six last season.

It would be a major shock if Clough’s team made it through to the final of the competition, although it did happen with Bradford City in 2013, when the Bantams were beaten 5-0 in the final by Swansea City.

Favourites

As expected Chelsea are favourites to win the Capital One Cup at odds of 5/6. The league cup will definitely be very low on Chelsea’s list of priorities, but as they are now in the semi-finals I am sure they will want to collect the trophy.

Liverpool and Tottenham are in other competitions and could claim silverware elsewhere, but for both the Capital One Cup presents a chance at collecting a trophy this season, especially for Spurs.

I doubt that many fans of Liverpool or Tottenham had the competition at the top of their wishlist this season, but I am sure now that their teams are within touching distance of collecting the trophy they would not turn their noses up at winning the competition.

Is the Capital One Cup worth winning?