Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg with Liverpool is in doubt after the Reds appealed to the EFL to postpone the game following a Covid outbreak in their squad.
Liverpool were missing manager Jurgen Klopp and nine first team squad members for Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea and are claiming they don’t have enough players to send a squad to the Emirates.
Their situation is exacerbated by the departure of Naby Keita, Sadio Mane and Mo Salah to the African Cup of Nations.
We can confirm an application has been submitted for the postponement of Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final, first-leg tie with Arsenal due to an escalating number of suspected positive COVID-19 cases and player availability.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 4, 2022
A Liverpool statement reads: “Liverpool Football Club can confirm an application has been submitted for the postponement of Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final, first-leg tie with Arsenal due to an escalating number of suspected positive COVID-19 cases and player availability.
“The Reds have formally requested to the EFL that the fixture is rescheduled after further suspected positive tests were registered among players and staff, allied to other factors impacting selection, including illness and injury.
The EFL are set to review the case tomorrow and a decision on whether the match goes ahead should follow soon after. At this point, it seems pointless speculating when a rescheduled match might take place.
Mikel Arteta, absent from the defeat to Manchester City, is due to face the media at 2pm and, all being well, is expected to be back in the dugout if the game gets the green light.
Good to to play then
Time* to
They are scared of us!
Play your academy kids and move on. When do they think it can actually be rescheduled to since they are still in 4 competitions?
Yeah, and what is a ‘suspected’ covid positive case. Sounds bs to me.
Klopp usually plays the kids in the carabao cup. He does so as he doesn’t think highly of the league cup.
It shouldn’t be an issue they’ve got 9 first team players missing.
It should be a normal league cup tie forJurgen
I don’t understand why they appealed because it is not as if they cannot field reserves and youth players which is usually done by all teams in league cup. Considering this is just first leg, EFL should green light this. Also postponing this doesn’t mean that all players will be available next week. So for me this should go ahead or Pool should be asked to forfeit 3-0. Same thing should happen to all games in league postponing based on covid + “injuries” should never be considered. PL has let itself down and a lot of clubs gamed the system… Read more »
At least the OX could start.
I’m not overly fussed about the carabao cup. It’s nice to be in de semi.
My crystal ball tells me that we will stuff Kane et all in their gaff. That’s what I “care” about.
I’m still scarred from the final against City a couple years back. God that was a miserable day at Wembley.
I quite fancy a final vs Spurs. Would be tense as hell but quite an occasion.
I just remember how fucking cold it was that day…. man what a terrible game that was. City beat us with ease in about 2nd gear.
Absolutely no danger Liverpool will get this game postponed.
I’m slightly ashamed to say it but it was the one and only game I’ve ever left early. Didnt wear enough layers and felt like I was approaching hypothermia and couldn’t hack the thought of queueing at the station..
I think that was the biggest chasm I’ve ever seen an Arsenal team have with an opponent. Even the really awful losses we had the odd moment. That was the footballing equivalent of in cartoons when the big guy puts his hand on the small guys head and he’s scrapping and swinging his arms but can’t even get close.
At least you turned up, which was more than the team did that day.
I left early too.
Wembley is a nightmare to get out of, and it was so cold, I just couldnt bear it any longer.
Fuck me I have no recollection of that game at all. Was it the one where Aguero scored from a goal kick?
It’s the one where Mustafi misjudged a goal kick not long after the game started. Can’t remember which Citeh mercenary scored though.
They played Aguero on goal? Christ we must have been bad
I’m still scarred from Man City, Birmingham City, Luton, Swindon, and Chelsea ( offset by Liverpool and Sheffield Weds) – it’s not a comp we’ve done well in but it can move a club forward as Citeh did. It’s silverware and takes media pressure off (and it’s also the last trophy Spuds won, always nice to remind them how long ago that was😃)
Winning the trophy could be a big confidence boost to this young squad.
I used to dismiss this tournament, but Arsenal isn’t what it used to be, we can’t look down on it.
Totally. I still remember all the pundits saying how they expected our team to kick on and challenge for the title the following season after we beat Birmingham in the League Cup final.. Crazy how things played out in reality.
Learning ‘how to win’ is the prize here.
Much as Arsenal not being what it used to, theres another factor of contenders growing with Newcastle soon to join the fray. We can’t choose to look at such competition as we used. Believe me going forward most teams won’t.
Yawn….get on with it
Would be totally BS if this got rescheduled when their afcon players are back. Play the kids and we will also (even if the kids are our usual 11) 😉
That’s exactly what they want.
Conveniently managed to be fine for the Chelsea game but as soon as all their players disappear off to AFCON then they pull the ‘.. we have too many Covid cases..’
Theres a genuine jssue here if Ghana advance further then Egypt or Senegal? How on earth would that be right that they have their strikers back but we’re missing our key central midfielder?
at this point, after all the last-minute cancelations, teams should pay or forfeit or the season will never end and players will never get time off.
*play or forfeit
Or scrap the anfield tie and go for 1 leg at the emirates next week… or wembley or even villa park
Exactly mate. Just postpone it. If they can’t find another date for it before the return game, then it should be a 0-3 forfeit, same thing that happened to Tottenham in the European Conference League. In no case Arsenal should accept a delay of the date for the semi final return leg, the final or other stunts like a one leg semi final. The players missing due to the Africa cup should not be taken into consideration at all in this decision. If a team had a starting 11 of only Africans and all would be gone now, no one… Read more »
Darling of English football vs. Perennial outcasts = Postponement.
New date please….
New date incoming, with Stuart Attwell as referee.
Mike dean in the other leg
Urgh, none of these shenanigans when they wanted to play the club world cup.
Pissed off really, i was meant to be going to this match. Play your reserves, surely thats what a reserve team is for? I would say the same for us as well, if your hit by covid play the reserves. It’ll stop the inevitable fixture pile up, plus make the league and cups more interesting. Anyway that won’t happen but i can always hope! On second thoughts, it’ll mean we are at home for the second leg which could be a good thing? I might of just talked myself round to being ok with this haha
It’s a piss take, let’s hope if it gets postponed they have to play us within 2 days of playing in Europe before facing city in the league
Last round they played academy…they can do similar at the Emitares
Didn’t Aston Villa literally field a youth team in the same competition a few months ago against Liverpool when they were having the same issues? Hmm
Not ideal at all. I can’t see the EFL saying no to Liverpool/Klopp.
Back of a matchbox calculation – Arsenal play 16th and 22nd, Liverpool play 16th and 23rd, so Wednesday 19th January looks free and would not be a massive disruption.
On the positive side, presumably Gabriel would then miss Forest instead – which he likely would have been rested for anyway.
Doesn’t he miss three matches? My thought was that this postponement will make him miss the NLD…
Only 1 for two yellows
Liverpool would benefit from playing on the 19th more than us. On the 16th, they have Brentford at home while we have Spurms away. They’d be able to play their second XI against Brentford and their well-rested best against us.
If they can’t field a team for the first leg, then they can smegging well forfeit it 3-0 to us. Period.
Knowing them, the “second” leg would have venue switched
If they want to beat brentford they’ll need to play their best 11 frankly
Not scared of spurs in theirbtoilet bowl… North London is red
Could also work out well for Arsenal if the ‘first’ leg is played last and we’re now at the Emirates for the ‘second’ leg.
Would be an electric atmosphere that night.
Not surprised really it’s rampant at the min although thankfully relatively mild symptoms, I’d be happy with both clubs fielding only under 23’s 😉😎
Complicated decision for EFL to make considering that whatever happens to the ARS-LIV side of this bracket should probably also happen to the CHE-TOT side as well to maintain competitive integrity. There’s a reason the tie draws for the pre-semifinal stage occur after the matches are played.
Doubt it really matters at this stage. What difference does it make whether it’s Chelsea or Sp*ds waiting in the final.
A big difference in terms of the result. Lose to Chelsea – as we have done in the past in the final of this competition, would be disappointing, but bearable.
Lose to those muppets up the Seven Sisters Road and we’d never hear the fucking last of it.
Chelsea in the final at all costs.
Not a gambling man it seems… just think of the glory of us being the ones to prolong their trophy drought rather than devolving that task to Liverpool or Leicester
If they win… screw it… its only the league cup…. only trophy theyve been able to have had any hold of in 3 decades
Hmmm.
They’ve only just shut the fuck up about Gaza’s free kick.
When they beat us in the semifinal of this competition in 07/08, they brought out mugs (no, seriously, they did, some Twat I worked in an office with had one) and the much heralded dvd.
Get one over us and they – and the fucking media – just don’t know when to stop going on about it. They can’t help themselves. Do you honestly want to go through all of that….?
Sorry but didnt Klopp field an under 21 side when they were busy playing in the Club World Championship?
Do the same and move on.
Fair point, but their under 23 squad may also be hit with covid.
Who cares, everybody got problems, they are just trying to be cute, play your 2nd eleven, that’s what they are there for, no?
Can they agree to just do one leg then? Played on the date of the second leg.
Gamesmanship from the Mugmashers when it suits them. Blood your youngsters for the Carabao Cup. Isn’t that how it’s done?
They should forfeit the match if they can’t play. The calendar is already stretched as it is.
Arsenal should win 3-0. End of story
With VAR and Mike Riley then awarding Liverpool four penalties in the second leg to go through 4-3 on aggregate.
Cheeky scouse cunts.
They can fuck right off. Fuck ‘em.
Like the Kids say (or used to say)
“Take the L”
Scared of us.
Arsenal have players at afcon, Arsenal have players with covid, Arsenal have players with injuries. The Arsenal coach missed the last game with covid.
What’s the difference between us and Liverpool?
We don’t come from the North
One major difference would be that our fathers aren’t at the same time our uncles.
They know we will smoke them right now.
“Suspected” covid cases?! That’s seriously the point we’ve reached?! Jesus Christ, every premier league player (and the entire uk population) can be considered a “suspected covid case” seeing as there’s currently a fast spreading virus going around and we don’t all live in hazmat suits in our basements. Beyond nonsensical now.
Suspected Covid should mean positive to lateral flow and waiting for PCR test confirmation
3-0 forfeit is cool with me, just like Spuds were forced to do in the Europa Shambles Cup
According to the Liverpool Echo:
“Joel Matip, Alisson Becker and Roberto Firmino miss out for Liverpool at Chelsea after suspected positive COVID-19 tests.” Also Klopp would miss the game.
Seems like bollocks to me. Totally agree with blogs about transparency because let’s face it, they are cancelling because also key players are off to AFCON, which is just something they should have to deal with.
If you ever needed proof that Klopp has thrown in the towel on the league, here you go.
Carabao cup is suddenly huge enough to warrant a demand for postponement – about a year from fielding a bunch of youths against Aston Villa in an FA Cup tie because of CWC engagement.
They should forfeit the game, in my opinion: the fixture list is already stretched to breaking point as it is.
They’re a bit like us really. Amazing first team with little depth after that.
The difference being we’re currently a club in transition.
They’re currently supposed to be the finished article.
Obviously not. 😊