Liverpool’s defence of the League Cup will begin with a third-round clash against Derby County later this year.
The 32-team draw was made on Wednesday evening, with Liverpool, Man City, Man United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea and West Ham joining the 25 second-round winners in the next stage of the competition.
Liverpool were drawn at home to League One side Derby County, who beat West Brom to reach the third round.
It’s the first time the Reds will have played Derby since 2016, when it was a 3-0 win at the same stage of this competition.
Derby suffered relegation from the Championship last season, having been relegated from the Premier League in 2008.
When will the match be played?
Not for a while! All of the third-round matches are due to be played in the week commencing November 7.
Typically Liverpool’s first League Cup clash of the season falls in September, but this year’s scheduling comes as a result of the 2022 World Cup, with Liverpool’s Champions League group stage games taking place earlier than usual.
The match falls between Premier League fixtures against Tottenham at the London Stadium and a home clash against Southampton the weekend after – which is the final game before the World Cup.
Once again, Jurgen Klopp is likely to use League Cup games to hand out valuable game time to some of the squad’s fringe players.
What about our rivals?
While Liverpool were given an ideal draw against lower league opposition and at home, plenty of others got Premier League opponents.
Man City were drawn against Chelsea, Man United got Aston Villa, Spurs got Nottingham Forest, Everton got Bournemouth, Arsenal play Brighton.
Leicester vs Newport County
West Ham vs Blackburn
Wolves vs Leeds
Nott’m Forest vs Tottenham
Man United vs Aston Villa
Bournemouth vs Everton
Burnley vs Crawley
Bristol City vs Lincoln
Man City vs Chelsea
Stevenage vs Charlton
MK Dons vs Morecambe
Newcastle vs Crystal Palace
Southampton vs Sheff Wednesday
Arsenal vs Brighton
Brentford vs Gillingham
2022/23 League Cup schedule
Third round: W/C November 7
Fourth round: W/C December 19
Quarter-finals: W/C January 9
Semi-finals first-leg: W/C January 23
Semi finals second-leg: W/C January 30
Final: February 26
Fan Comments