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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Patrick Austen-Hardy

Rio Ferdinand makes Carabao Cup winner prediction ahead of Arsenal vs Liverpool

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has tipped Chelsea to win the League Cup this season.

Thomas Tuchel’s side were the first to book themselves a place in the Carabao Cup final this season, after overcoming Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 over the course of two legs.

The West Londoners booked their place at Wembley with alarming ease, as Antonio Conte’s side barely laid a glove on the reigning Champions League holders.

Liverpool and Arsenal ’s semi-final is on a knife edge, after Mikel Arteta’s side recorded an impressive 0-0 draw over Jurgen Klopp’s men, despite being reduced to ten men.

Nevertheless, Ferdinand still believes Chelsea ’s experience in the cup competitions will see them prevail and win their third trophy under Tuchel.

HAVE YOUR SAY! Who do you think will win the League Cup this season? Comment below

Liverpool and Arsenal drew their first-leg at Anfield 0-0 (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

“I think Chelsea will win it,” Ferdinand said on Vibe with FIVE .

“I think Chelsea will win it, Chelsea know how to win cup competitions, they’ve got that about them.

“They won the Champions League, they’ve got the confidence, they know how to do it on the day, I see them doing it.”

Chelsea absolutely dominated their north London rivals over the course of their two legs against Tottenham.

Kai Havertz’s early strike and a comical own goal from Ben Davies sealed a comfortable 2-0 victory in the first-leg at Stamford Bridge.

And the Blues finished the job at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium when Antonio Rudiger headed Chelsea into an unassailable 3-0 aggregate lead against Conte’s men.

However, the Blues suffered a huge set-back in their aspirations for the Premier League title, after Manchester City edged them 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium.

Ferdinand thinks Chelsea will win the League Cup this season (Vibe with Five)

It was a result which may have ended any hope of winning their first league title since 2017, as they now trail Pep Guardiola’s side by 13 points.

However, Tuchel believes winning the League Cup and maintaining a winning mentality is vital to any side with aspirations of dominating their respective divisions.

“I come from a club where it was very very important to win trophies,” said the German.

“Defined itself for trophies. It is good that we are not shy to say we want to win it and we want to be in finals and want to win finals.

Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea breezed past Tottenham to reach the League Cup final (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

“This is what we find here and this makes us happy because we are all competitive and so we are giving our best and this is what the club demands from us and from there we go.”

With Chelsea’s title aspirations appearing to be all but over, the cup competitions appear to be their best chance of silverware once again.

Their FA Cup campaign commenced with a very comfortable 5-0 home victory against non-league Chesterfield.

The Blues have the advantage of playing at home once again, as they were drawn against Plymouth Argyle in the next round.

Meanwhile, they were also handed a very kind draw in the Champions League, despite the fact the whole draw had to be carried out again.

Despite finishing second in their group, Chelsea managed to evade the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, as they were drawn to face Lille in the Round-of-16 stages of Europe’s elite competition.

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