League Cup exit gives likely date for Chelsea vs. Liverpool re-arrangement

December 23, 2022
Joanna Durkan

Liverpool no longer have the Carabao Cup to contend with this season after defeat at Man City, but that isn’t to say their schedule isn’t to be as busy.

Jurgen Klopp‘s side have two Premier League games to rearrange at some point during the season after they were postponed in the wake of the Queen’s passing back in September.

Wolves‘ visit to Anfield and a trip to Chelsea were both put off to a later date, and could that now be at the turn of the year?

With Liverpool’s defence of their Carabao Cup title now at an end, they do not currently have a fixture scheduled during the week commencing January 9 – and neither do Chelsea.

Wolves remain in the competition – they face Nottingham Forest in the quarter-finals – but Chelsea were knocked out in the previous round by City.

It creates a rare opening to reschedule the league match at Chelsea for a time between the third round of the FA Cup on January 7 and the next Premier League match on January 14.

Where the Chelsea match could fit

Wolves (H) – FA Cup Third Round – January 7
Chelsea (A) – Premier League – January 10/11
Brighton (A) – Premier League – January 14

Stamford Bridge should be available with the women’s side not requiring the ground in that week and with plenty of fixture congestion around the league, you’d expect the Premier League to make the necessary arrangements.

Currently, the next free midweek after January 10/11 for both Liverpool and Chelsea is January 24/25 – a time reserved for the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final.

There will no doubt be some resistance to having games overlap in two different competitions, but there is to be little choice in the matter.

The only other alternative could be to wait and see how the teams progress in the FA Cup and in the Champions League, but that only pushes the problem down the road.

With two games for the Reds to rearrange, no time is ideal in an already unrelenting schedule but the exit of Liverpool and Chelsea from the Carabao Cup could now have added another match to their new year calendar anyway.