Table of Contents
The first leg of the EFL Cup semi-finals starts on Tuesday, with every kick of the ball broadcast live Biggest+. The quartet still on the pitch is not far from the ideal solution for a knockout competition, emphatically ticking two of the required boxes. It would be nice to have a genuine underdog among the bottom four, but instead there is a double dose of credible contenders for the sport’s biggest prizes – Arsenal and Liverpool – alongside two great old names from English sport, desperate to end a long trophy drought.
Any potential final would make for a massive day out at Wembley on March 16, but which would be the richest in story, excitement and quality? Let’s take a look:
4. Arsenal vs Liverpool
Any match between the two best teams in England would probably be a sensation; only one of their last 24 meetings has ended goalless and their match at the Emirates Stadium in October was a real barn burner. There would be one-on-one battles all over the field that could change the game. Is there any force that can stop man from allowing Diogo Jota to score against Arsenal? Gabriel Martinelli vs. Trent Alexander-Arnold again? Perhaps even the return of Bukayo Saka, the Premier League prince who is lining up against King Mohamed Salah?
All that and a match that could be the first skirmish in a titanic battle that will last at least the rest of the season. The Premier League title is not yet out of reach for Arsenal, and it may not be within the next two months, with the EFL Cup final set to fall just after Liverpool face Manchester City and Newcastle. These two teams are currently the favorites for the Champions League, it is not impossible that they meet on the way to Munich or at the Allianz Arena itself.
And that’s the only minor problem with this finale. I don’t need it. I’m not sure I really want it either. I have been on the internet for the past three months. I have seen the hellscape in which Arsenal and Liverpool supporters interact. We’ll be doing a lot more of that before the season is over. Taking a weekend break in March wouldn’t be too disappointing.
3. Newcastle vs Liverpool
What more can be said than that these rankings were compiled by a kid from the 1990s. Newcastle United against Liverpool: it gives Tino Asprilla who lobs David James, Robbie Fowler or Stan Collymore at the death, Kevin Keegan was ashen on the billboards. Even since then you’ve got what ‘some’ are calling The xG Game a little over a year ago. It’s all drama, Mick! I just love it.
2. Newcastle vs Tottenham
What do the neutral players want at the cup final? Simple: feasting on the pain of others. And there are few cup finals in the English game as glorious as the trophyless pairs encounter like this. Of course, there have been near misses for both sides in recent years, but those types of accidents could be explained away quite easily.
Newcastle came up against Manchester United at exactly the wrong time, about the only time in the last three and a half years that that team had the genuine air of someone worthy of winning even marginal domestic trophies. Tottenham sacked their manager six days before facing Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. Indeed, it has been a long time since either of these sides have gone into a major final as favourites. For Newcastle, the 1969 Inter City Fairs Cup could be their last piece of silverware.
If these two upset the oddsmakers in the semi-finals, they would go to Wembley knowing they would have the best chance of silver in a generation. Tottenham, who performed so credibly this weekend with a worn-out defense, hoped to be fully healthy again. If Newcastle continue on their current trajectory with a midfield as dominant as almost any midfield in the Premier League, they will see no reason to fear Spurs.
There is no reason for that other than the damage a defeat could do to them. You can already hear the expertocracy. Newcastle lose and what is this project, which is apparently still many years away from competing for the Premier League, actually for? Are Tottenham, 17 years without silverware, cursed with a drought that has lasted as long as the opponent who just defeated them? In short, there are few finals in the English game that can clearly surpass this game. However, there is one…
1. Arsenal vs Tottenham
The biggest rivalry in English football, Transplanted 10 or 12 miles west? A first-ever North London derby in a grand final? Remember what we said earlier about the possibilities for neutral schadenfreude presented by Newcastle vs. Tottenham. Quadruple it. No, no, fivefold.
For Mikel Arteta, a second piece of silverware would be welcome, especially as it would be the first such piece won by this particular version of Arsenal. His selection might not have suggested much, but the Gunners manager has taken pains to note how winning this title “creates the right path” for further glory. Ange Postecoglou, meanwhile, threw the gauntlet at his own feet when he said in September: “I always win things in my second year”.
But actually it wouldn’t just be about winning a trophy. Perhaps even more, it would amount to stopping the other lot on Seven Sisters’ Road from doing the same. It is here that Tottenham’s trophy drought really comes into effect. What greater pleasure could there be for Arsenal than to extend it, for months or years? How much sweeter it would be to put an end to that against your great rivals.
Arsenal, Tottenham, in a grand final? I’ll love it and I think I deserve it.