Carabao Cup final prize money is guaranteed to surprise Liverpool and Chelsea fans

The first big trophy of the season is up for grabs when Chelsea and Liverpool play in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, but the prize money will surprise supporters.

Liverpool and Chelsea have faced off at Wembley on several times lately, with the Merseyside team emerging victorious on penalties in both 2021–2022.

On Sunday, the two will square off again, with kickoff taking place from Wembley Stadium at 3:00 p.m.

After overcoming a 1-0 deficit in the first leg, Chelsea defeated Middlesbrough 6-1 at Stamford Bridge to advance to the final, while Liverpool survived a late scare to defeat Fulham.

For quite different reasons, both managers will find the final to be very crucial.

As Liverpool continue to lead the Premier League and are strong favourites to win the Europa League, Jurgen Klopp will be trying to set the tone for the remainder of his final season in charge.

The only genuine chance Chelsea has to salvage another poor league season is to win silverware, thus Mauricio Pochettino must prove himself to the Chelsea supporters.

The ‘big six’ managers are said to despise the Carabao Cup, and Klopp has already faced criticism for the number of changes he made for the competition.

The fact that the winner of the final only earns £100,000 in prize money and the runner-up only gets £50,000 is one of the key causes of this.

Compared to the champions of England’s second domestic cup, the FA Cup winners, who took home £2 million, this is 20 times less.

It’s understandable that elite teams find the early rounds unappealing because, in order to advance past the first round of the competition, teams must earn merely £5,000.

Clubs gain £7,000 for winning in the second round, which isn’t very profitable either. The awards don’t get much better until the quarter-final and semifinal stages, where clubs advance with £25,000.