Not everyone needs this tournament.

The third round of the League Cup ended in England. A sort of border, where the intentions of the elite-ranking teams are immediately determined, and the first surprises and contenders for sensations appear. Let’s see who made it to the 1/8 finals of the tournament.

humble names

Of the 16 teams that progressed to the fourth round, four represent the third best league and lower. So Lincoln City, 14th in League One, beat Bristol City, 20th in the league, 3-1 away. In another pair, fate has brought together two First League outsiders. And MK Dons turned out to be stronger than Morecambe – 2: 0. It was a match between the 21st and 22nd third division teams, so here the lot itself assumed the presence of a club from one of the lower leagues.

Perhaps the most famous representative of the First League in the 1/8 finals was Charlton. But he had to endure penalty kicks in the battle with Stevenage. The main half of the match ended with the score 1: 1. The ninth team of the third division failed to put a hold on the second team of the fourth. The lottery decided everything, in which only one mistake from the penalty mark was made by Stevenage.

Yet the Second League will be presented in the 1/8 finals. Furthermore, the appearance of “Gillingham” at this stage can be considered the greatest sensation. After all, this team is only 22nd in the fourth division and played away against Brentford, representing the Premier League. That is, there are two divisions between them. And the situation at first developed in favor of the favorite. Tony opened the scoring in the third minute. Only at the 75th Mandron manages to equalize. And Gillingham brought the game to a draw. The five-shot main series was passed by both teams without fail, but in the sixth Damsgård failed to score and allowed the feeling to be realized.

I got rid of the weight

One way or another, the best English teams at least at this stage of the League Cup have a large rotation in the composition. At this point, the fatigue from participating in European competitions and Premier League matches is building up, some tournament tasks are already looming Premier Leaguewhich becomes a priority. And the additional load in the form of League Cup matches isn’t particularly encouraging. It is used to function in the reserve, or even “merge” altogether, erasing it from the calendar for the future. There were such teams in the last third round of the League Cup.

First of all, it is, of course, Arsenal. Leadership unexpectedly captured in the championship of England sets priorities. It is clear that the “Gunners” will now make every effort to maintain this position, although few people believe that Manchester City will not “eat” the Londoners for the remainder of the season. It would be foolish for the Gunners to admit it so simply and stop fighting.

And one of Arsenal’s main problems on their way to maintaining leadership and a potential title fight is one and all called the shallow depth of the squad. Mikel Arteta has to rely on fewer core players than Manchester City. And that hasn’t happened yet in a major injury epidemic. And therefore, to rule out this same epidemic, as well as further grueling factors, Arsenal should get rid of the League Cup.

Of course, no one will say that the “Gunners” are out and deliberately gave the victory to Brighton. Nobody takes the field to lose – this must be understood. But put it this way, the level of motivation, resistance and selection of the composition match. Arteta had a full rotation in almost all positions. And although Nketia managed to open the scoring, Welbeck soon equalized him from the spot. And in the second half Mitoma and Lamptey fix the final result in favor of Brighton. At the same time, Arsenal had a powerful segment early in the second half of the match, when it might seem like they really need it for the next League Cup round. It allowed Brighton to be statistically beaten and to say after the game that the Gunners played enough to win.

But who hasn’t played exactly, and even statistically, is Tottenham. Here Antonio Conte has decided to only partially show the rotation. It could also be said that it was almost non-existent. But unlike Arsenal reservists, Tottenham’s near-leading team showed their attitude towards the League Cup alone on the pitch. The Spurs had a lot of possession, but created very little sharpness. And clearly inferior to the opponent in dedication and diligence.

The fate of the match is decided at the beginning of the second half, when Lodi and Lingard score with an interval of seven minutes. Interestingly, Nottingham Forest remained in the minority in the 76th minute, but that didn’t motivate the Spurs to fight. They ended up finishing the match with nine shots at 14, hitting the target twice in total, while Nottingham scored eight times. In general, it’s not very clear why Conte used base players if they reacted to this fight that way.

And a partial rotation was carried out by the participants in the central match of the third round, Manchester City and Chelsea. Here the situation was not easy for both teams, who could not afford to set up a reserve at all. Only for the opponent’s name. But rotation was needed for tired players. Managed with point permutations.

Of course, Manchester City have much more resources not to reduce the quality of the game by replacing some elements of the mechanism with others. Therefore, Josep Guardiola’s wards were more successful. Here, too, everything is decided at the beginning of the second half, when Mahrez and Alvarez score in five minutes. Graham Potter gradually made the Chelsea team easier to name with substitutions, but that didn’t save the day. It is unlikely that Chelsea were upset about the League Cup departure. Fighting for a place in the top four Premier League this tournament could be redundant. Rather, the Blues would like to beat City in one game.

Other members

Almost threw away the extra load and “Liverpool” with “Newcastle”. Even with a decent rotation, Jurgen Klopp, who regularly suffers from defeats in the squad, led the Reds to the 1/8 finals. True, on penalties. The match between Liverpool and Derby County ended in a goalless draw. And then, it was time to shine for penalty kicks master Kelleher, who saved three shots from the spot. And he won, it turns out, the fourth consecutive penalty.

The Newcastle Pope goalkeeper also shone. The match between Magpies and Crystal Palace also ended in a goalless draw. Newcastle too Premier League he fights for a place in the Champions League, but he is not tempted to participate in many tournaments, he does not play in European competitions, so he does not need to rotate. And then he lined up in full. But he still managed to slip further only on penalties.

On penalties, Southampton also went further, eliminating Sheffield Wednesday (1: 1 in regulation time). “Manchester United” with “Aston Villa” staged a colorful battle. In addition, the Birminghams attacked hard, had little possession of the ball, scored five shots on goal for the entire match, but managed to score twice (1: 0 and 2: 1). But still much more active and assertive Manchester United reached and won – 4: 2. Ten Hag also resorted to rotation, but not significantly.

In other games, Leicester defeated Newport (3: 0) and Bournemouth defeated Everton (4: 1). Burnley added to the league representation by beating Crawley Town 3-1, while Blackburn defeated West Ham 2-2 in regulation time on penalties in a dramatic match. Wolverhampton got a late match win from Leeds (1: 0).

The draw for the 1/8 finals of the League Cup is interesting

Manchester City – Liverpool, Manchester United – Burnley, Newcastle – Bournemouth, Wolverhampton – Gillingham, Southampton – Lincoln City, Blackburn – Nottingham Forest “,” MK Dons “-” Leicester “,” Charlton “-” Brighton “.

The upcoming supermatch with the participation of Manchester City attracts attention. against Liverpool.