CARABAO CUP FINAL:Why Liverpool and Chelsea won’t be going into Extra time,but straight to penalties

In today’s Carabao Cup final, Chelsea and Liverpool will square off in an attempt to win the first domestic prize of the year. This event will be a rematch of the 2022 championship game, in which Liverpool defeated the Blues in a penalty shootout beneath the Wembley dome.

Due to their current two-point advantage over second-place Arsenal in the Premier League standings, Liverpool will be the clear favourites to win the game. Mohamed Salah, who scored against Brentford last Saturday in his first game back from injury, will provide them a lift.

Chelsea, on the other hand, are the clear underdogs at Wembley this afternoon after a disastrous campaign thus far. They will, meanwhile, be very motivated to get revenge on their Merseyside rivals after losing the Carabao Cup final the previous two years.

Before today’s game, Express Sport examines the information you should be aware of.

Will penalties be used to end the match?

In the first five Carabao Cup rounds, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner in the event of a tie after ninety minutes. No additional time was allowed. But in today’s final, that will not be the case.

There will be an additional half-hour of play, consisting of two 15-minute halves, if the final score is tied. If after extra time there is still no winner, a penalty shoot-out will be needed.

Is VAR going to be used?

Because not every club in the competition had access to the technology, the VAR system was not used in the first several rounds of the Carabao Cup. However, it will be present at Wembley this afternoon to guarantee that crucial choices are taken.

Team updates

The most notable absence for Liverpool will be right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is out due to a knee injury that flared up earlier this month. While players like Curtis Jones and Darwin Nunez will be looking to bounce back from the knocks they took last weekend against Brentford, Dominic Szoboszlai may also be questionable for the game.

This season, Chelsea has also seen its fair share of injuries. Thiago Silva and Benoit Badiashile are also in a race against time to recuperate from groyne issues. Long-term absentees Romeo Lavia, Reece James, Robert Sanchez, Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, and Lesley Ugochukwu will undoubtedly not be present at Wembley today.