Chelsea, Liverpool Stay on Course In English League Cup

Chelsea defeated Leicester City 4-2. Liverpool beat Derby County 3-0 while Arsenal thump Nottingham Forrest 4-0.

Chelsea players celebrates after scoring a goal against Leicester City in the English League Cup. (Photo: AP)

With no European competitions clogging up their schedules, Chelsea and Liverpool are placing more importance on the English League Cup than usual this season. They both advanced to the last 16 on Tuesday but took different routes.

Chelsea came from two goals behind at Premier League champion Leicester, taking an end-to-end game to extra time at 2-2 thanks to goals from defenders Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta before Cesc Fabregas’ double clinched a 4-2 win.

Liverpool had it much easier, dispatching second-tier Derby in a 3-0 victory, with Ragnar Klavan, Philippe Coutinho and Divock Origi scoring the goals. Chelsea and Liverpool both rested key players but still fielded strong lineups in a bid to stay alive in one of three competitions they’ll enter this season. Liverpool is a record eight-time League Cup winner, while Chelsea is joint-second in the all-time list of trophy winners with five titles. Leicester has much bigger priorities this season.

Aside from attempting to retain its Premier League title, Claudio Ranieri’s team are in the Champions League for the first time and likely will not be too concerned about exiting a competition of the least importance. Japan forward Shinji Okazaki took advantage of defensive errors to score twice for Leicester at King Power Stadium, but the hosts were undermanned in extra time after Marcin Wasilewski collected his second yellow card in the 89th for elbowing Diego Costa in the face.

Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas celebrates after scoring a goal against Leicester City in the English League Cup match. (Photo: AP)

Fabregas’ two goals send a message to Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, who has marginalised the Spain midfielder at the start of the season.

Lucas Perez, a recent signing from Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna, scored twice in the second half for his first goals for Arsenal.

Arsenal’s Lucas Perez celebrates scoring his side’s third goal of the game with team mates during the English League Cup match between Nottingham Forest and Arsenal. (Photo: AP)

Granit Xhaka scored from long range, as he did against Hull in the Premier League on Saturday to put Arsenal ahead, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain wrapped up the victory for a visiting team featuring a mix of youth-team players and fringe squad members.

(With inputs from PTI)