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The EFL Cup field for the quarter-finals has been set after quite a few disappointments on Wednesday. Newcastle United managed to get past Chelsea, Aston Villa fell to Crystal Palance and Tottenham defeated Manchester City. Jhon Duran’s goal streak for Villa wasn’t enough to keep Villa going, but it was a thrilling round of 16. While teams like Manchester City are now eliminated, Liverpool still have a chance to go back-to-back after winning the 2024 edition.
EFL Cup Round of 16 scores
Southampton 3, Stoke City 2
Brentford 1, Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Brentford advances 5-4 on penalties)
Brighton 2, Liverpool 3
Preston North End 0, Arsenal 3
Manchester United 5, Leicester City 2
Newcastle United 2, Chelsea 0
Aston Villa 1, Crystal Palace 2
Tottenham 2, Manchester City 1
Quarter-final draw results
Matches will be played around December 16
Tottenham vs Manchester United
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace
Newcastle United vs Brentford
Southampton vs Liverpool
Tottenham secured the unrest
The biggest result came from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Tottenham’s win over Manchester City had its fair share of highs and lows in the first half with goals from Timo Werner, Pape Sarr and Matheus Nunes. But injuries also cropped up. Mikey Van De Ven left the match with an injury for Tottenham and Savinho was also stretchered off to Manchester City after taking a corner kick. With the Brazilian back in form it is a big blow to the City attack, but this result is a milestone for Ange Postecoglou. He has spoken about how he is delivering trophies in his second season with clubs and with just a few more wins he can do that for Tottenham.
The start of the post-Erik ten Hag era is good
When Manchester City faced Leicester City, things couldn’t have been much lower for Manchester United. Led by interim manager Ruud Van Nistelrooy, they exploded in the first half with four goals against a changing team and won 5-2. Leicester need to focus on staying out of the Premier League drop zone, so it was an opportunity for the Red Devils to use it as a draw and that’s exactly what they did. Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes both scored braces in the match, while Alejandro Garnacho completed the scoring. This was exactly what United needed ahead of this weekend’s clash with Chelsea.
Whoever the Red Devils manager is, if the players have confidence, they can score on anyone. They won’t have enjoyed letting Leicester score twice, but it’s something that’s easier to stomach after five goals in the game. This is the kind of clash that could cause selection problems for the weekend.
Jhon Duran scores, but it wasn’t enough
After Crystal Palace goalkeeper and US men’s national team starter Matt Turner allowed Jhon Duran to score his eighth goal in all competitions and his second goal in his last three games for Aston Villa, the Eagles were able to wake up from home. Eberechi Eze opened the scoring in less than 10 minutes but was withdrawn shortly afterwards with a thigh injury. Daichi Kamada replaced him and also scored the eventual match-winning goal for Palace.
It has been a slow start to the season for Crystal Palace under Oliver Glasner, but after this win they have made it back to back wins after also beating Tottenham in their last game. If they can make it three in a row against Wolves it will go a long way towards ensuring safety in the Premier League.
Cody Gakpo calls for more playing time
When you’re in a team that performs as well as Arne Slot’s Reds it can be difficult to make changes to the XI, but after a brace in the cup tie, Cody Gakpo is doing everything he can to get more minutes on the wing to achieve. With Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah in good form, rotation could be tricky, but as Liverpool continue to progress in more competitions, depth will be needed. Gakpo now has four goals and two assists in all competitions in just over 500 minutes played with back-to-back braces in EFL Cup play.