Carabao Cup Focus: The fixtures to watch from the third round
The Carabao Cup third round has arrived, bringing the Premier League’s big boys with it.
There are several fascinating match-ups – both with and without sides from England’s top flight.
We used the Twenty3 Toolbox to pick out three of the most statistically interesting games.
Liverpool vs Leicester City
Leicester City have enjoyed a strong start to life in the second tier since suffering relegation from the Premier League last season.
The Foxes sit atop the fledgling Championship table on goal difference after eight games, winning seven times and losing just once.
Enzo Maresca’s side have looked confident in the Carabao Cup as well, coasting to comfortable 2-0 away wins against Burton Albion and Tranmere Rovers and conceding just 0.43 xG in the process – no side has recorded a lower tally.
Their reward is a clash with heavyweights Liverpool at Anfield, who will provide a much sterner test of Leicester’s defensive solidity, having racked up an xG of 12.89 across six top flight games, behind only Brighton and Hove Albion.
Under Maresca, the Foxes look to control games with the ball – and central defender Wout Faes has been fundamental to their ability to do so, leading the Carabao Cup for passes received (254), attempted (308) and completed (296), as well as forward passes attempted (111) and completed (103) and sequences of 10 or more passes featured in (57).
Controlling proceedings against Liverpool at Anfield will be no easy task, however, with the Reds more than capable of exploiting high lines with balls in behind towards their dazzling array of lightning-quick forwards – Jurgen Klopp’s side have attempted 71 through-balls in the Premier League, more than any other team.
Leicester cannot simply focus on keeping their illustrious opponents out if they are to stage an upset, though. Marc Albrighton will be key to their threat at the other end of the pitch, having attempted (15) and completed (six) more crosses than any player in the Carabao Cup.
Blackburn Rovers vs Cardiff City
For anyone glancing at the fixture list for the Carabao Cup’s third round, the all-Championship clash between Blackburn Rovers and Cardiff City may not immediately jump off the page.
However, Blackburn are the competition’s highest scorers, having netted a whopping 12 goals in just two games, beating Walsall 4-3 before demolishing Harrogate Town 8-0.
Furthermore, their dominance so far is reflected by the fact that they lead the Carabao Cup for completed passes (1,574), backward passes (302), forward passes (453) and final third passes (140).
Cardiff, meanwhile, boast the highest post-shot xG (6.84) of any side in the competition and can count themselves unlucky not to have recorded more than their tally of five goals.
The Bluebirds demonstrated plenty of dynamism against Colchester United and Birmingham City and have won more attacking duels (88) than any other team, including 53 completed dribbles.
Young forwards Rubin Colwill and Kion Etete – both 21 – shone in those games, grasping their opportunities with both hands.
Colwill leads the Carabao Cup for shots (nine), shots on target (six), post-shot xG (2.76) and successful attacking actions (16), while no player has registered a higher xG tally than Etete’s 2.53.
Blackburn centre-half Scott Wharton – whose 48 ball recoveries are the most of any player in the competition – will certainly have his hands full as he looks to keep Cardiff’s energetic young duo quiet.
Ipswich Town vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
Only goal difference separates Ipswich Town from table-topping Leicester in the Championship – and they will be hoping to spring a surprise when Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers come to visit.
Ipswich showed plenty of balance and poise in their games against Bristol Rovers and Reading in the first and second rounds.
Their pressing has been particularly effective, recovering the ball 92 times in the opposition half – with Lee Evans responsible for 21 of those. Both are competition-leading totals.
As a result, just 19.75% of opposition sequences have ended in Ipswich’s defensive third – the lowest in the Carabao Cup.
At the other end of the pitch, they boast the positive Omari Hutchinson, who has attempted a competition-high 34 attacking actions and will look to test Wolves’ defenders relentlessly.
Wolves have endured a poor start to the 2023-24 campaign and have won just one league game – their 5-0 victory over Blackpool in the second round was welcome respite but has done little to turn their fortunes around.
Pablo Sarabia did grab three assists in that game – but he may find space harder to come by against an aggressive, well-drilled Ipswich side.
All visualisations in this article were produced with the Twenty3 Toolbox. For more information, please get in touch below.