Former England international Darren Bent is predicting uproar from the Liverpool supporters if the club voluntarily exits the Carabao Cup.
Because of fixture congestion caused by the Reds’ mandatory participation in the Club World Cup this season, manager Jurgen Klopp admitted recently that his team may be forced to pull out of the Carabao Cup.
Sky Sports pundit Bent doesn’t think that would go down well: “It’s a tough one and I’m sure the Liverpool fans won’t be happy with that,” he told Football Insider. “I get what Jurgen Klopp is saying, their fixture congestion is crazy, but at the same time fans want trophies.
“Liverpool fans saw Guardiola lift absolutely everything domestically last season. Liverpool know they’re in a position to do that as well. They know they’re in a position where they could lift every trophy in this country like Man City did. The fact they’re prepared just to give one away, I’m not sure how that’s going to go down with Liverpool fans.”
OPINION
It’s concerning that we have even got to the point where this is a possibility. Liverpool shouldn’t be getting penalised for winning the Champions League last season, far from it. Yes, all these different competitions have their own schedules that they run by, but some leeway has to be afforded the European champions. They obviously want to go to the Club World Cup and prove that they are the best team in the world, but they don’t want to just throw away the Carabao Cup either. However, that is now becoming more and more likely of a proposition. The problem is that if the Reds do compete in the Premier League, Champions League, Club World Cup, Carabao Cup and FA Cup as planned, then their results in one or more of those competitions are naturally going to suffer because they’re going to be playing more games than anyone else. That’s simply not fair, yet none of those competitions are seemingly prepared to budge to allow the fixtures to be rejigged. Yes, the Liverpool fans likely wouldn’t be happy if they exit the Carabao Cup, but it might just be a reality at this point.
