ClapThe quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup are now officially in the books, and it’s time to look ahead to the final four.
The competition isn’t really given all too much respect by a lot of fans, many of whom tend to believe that it doesn’t even really need to exist. Regardless of whether you believe that or not there’s no way of getting around the fact that it all starts to feel a little bit more important once we get to this point in proceedings.
As reported by BBC and Sky Sports, the draw took place last night almost immediately after the final whistle had blown on the last quarter-final games and brought up some juicy results: with Manchester United being set to take on Manchester City and Aston Villa going head to head with Leicester City.
Manchester United vs Manchester City
Given the fact that United put a huge dent in City’s title aspirations just a matter of weeks ago, it certainly seems as if this one is going to be a little bit more personal than most would’ve anticipated. Then again, you could make the argument that it’s always personal when these two clubs go head to head.
United are starting to finally rebuild themselves under the tutelage of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and while it’s taking a bit of time, the results are coming slowly but surely. They were eventually able to dispatch of Colchester United last night in the last eight in order to secure their place in the semis, with Marcus Rashford producing the goods to ensure they avoided a potential banana skin.
City, on the other hand, faced a little bit more of a scare when they went up against Oxford United. The plucky third tier side weren’t about to go quietly into the night and even equalised after Pep’s men had taken the lead. The visitors ran out comfortable winners in the end, though, but it still wasn’t that convincing.
Aston Villa vs Leicester
Aston Villa are fighting to avoid relegation and Leicester City are somehow in the title race – which is the sort of crazy dynamic that makes the Premier League so unpredictable so much of the time.
These two clubs will know that they’ve been awarded what many would consider the more favourable half of the draw, knowing that they’re just two games away from a spot at Wembley.
Villa tore Liverpool’s youngsters to shreds at Villa Park the other night, knowing that it was probably going to be a relatively easy night at the office as a direct result of the Reds’ fixture congestion.
Then you’ve got Leicester City who held a 2-0 lead over Everton in their quarter-final before surrendering it, forcing a penalty shootout which they were fortunate to come away from with the victory.
If we were going to stick money on it then we’d probably go with a Manchester City vs Leicester City final, which is ironic, given that they’re set to square off this weekend.
With it being a two-legged affair, though, quite literally anything is possible.
