Danny Welbeck said Chelsea meet Liverpool tonight with a place in the next round of the Carabao Cup on the line, and he wants the club to keep its push for silverware alive. The midfielder said progressing is the main aim, but he also made clear that Chelsea see this as more than a routine cup tie.
That urgency is easy to understand. Chelsea want to keep their dream of lifting the first trophy on offer this season alive, and Welbeck said it would be special to try to get a trophy. He has lived that feeling before: he made his professional debut in the competition at 17 and has lifted the three-handled trophy on two occasions, which gives his words extra weight as Chelsea head into a night that could shape the rest of the campaign.
Welbeck has already done his part in the run to this point, scoring three goals across Chelsea’s wins over Luton Town and Leeds at Stamford Bridge in rounds two and three. He said those victories mattered because they got Chelsea off the mark and moved the squad on each time, and now the challenge is bigger. Liverpool and Chelsea have each been beaten once in the league this season, which is why the tie feels like a proper test rather than a path to the quarter-finals.
Welbeck did not pretend otherwise. He said Liverpool are the sort of opponent a side has to beat to win the competition, and he called the match an exciting tie that Chelsea have prepared for well. The open question is no longer whether Chelsea can make a run in the Carabao Cup; it is whether they can turn that preparation into another win tonight and keep the first trophy on offer within reach.
