Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool & Newcastle eye League Cup quarter-final spots | OneFootball

The League Cup last-16 stage promises high-stakes drama as several Premier League heavyweights and in-form underdogs battle for a coveted place in the quarter-finals.

Both last season’s finalists are still in the mix, with Newcastle United aiming to defend their crown after beating Liverpool en route to their first major title in the 21st century.

However, the Magpies face stern competition from Arsenal and Manchester City, while the Reds seek amends for a dreadful run of form in the Premier League.

The League Cup fixtures will be broadcast live on TV, mainly on Sky in the UK (Sky Sports +, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event), with ITV also picking up the feature game on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Without further ado, let’s look at the five most exciting match-ups.

Newcastle United vs Tottenham Hotspur

Eddie Howe’s men are back on track after a slow start to the season, winning four of their last five matches in all competitions, including a 2-1 home league victory over Fulham at the weekend.

St James’ Park has been a fortress recently. Newcastle have won three consecutive home games in the build-up to this meeting, netting seven goals while conceding just one in return.

A fourth win on the trot is not beyond the realm of possibility, particularly considering the Magpies’ dominant form against Tottenham on home turf.

Tottenham have lost their last three visits to this stadium by an aggregate scoreline of 12-2, highlighting the size of the task awaiting Thomas Frank’s side on Wednesday.

According to Spurs’ official website, Yves Bissouma, Ben Davies, Radu Dragusin, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Koto Takai are unavailable, further derailing their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Chelsea

Nailed to the bottom of the Premier League table as the only winless side this season, Wolverhampton Wanderers could find this cup clash a welcome distraction from their league turmoil.

However, under-pressure manager Vitor Pereira would probably appreciate a less formidable challenge than facing Chelsea, who slumped to a heartbreaking 2-1 home loss to Sunderland last weekend.

That result snapped the Blues’ four-match winning run, reigniting the pressure on Enzo Maresca after the club’s mixed start to the new league campaign.

Chelsea can draw confidence from their recent meetings with Wolves, having won both league encounters last season via multi-goal margins, including a superb 6-2 victory on this ground.

Swansea vs Manchester City

Swansea pulled off a massive upset in the previous League Cup round as they squeezed past Nottingham Forest to set up another high-profile tie against Pep Guardiola’s Man City side.

The visitors look to bounce back from Saturday’s loss at Aston Villa and extend their winning run against Swansea to eight matches in the first League Cup clash between the clubs since 2016.

A narrow 1-0 defeat at Villa Park knocked the Cityzens down from a three-game winning streak in all competitions and marked their first scoring blank since a 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham in August.

Guardiola played down ‘goalscoring concerns’ after his side failed to fire at Villa, and this fixture could be a perfect opportunity for them to get back on track.

Arsenal vs Brighton & Hove Albion

It’s debatable whether there’s a more in-form side across Europe’s traditional top-five leagues than Arsenal at the moment.

Mikel Arteta’s charges have won nine of their ten outings since a 1-0 loss at Liverpool in late August, including the last seven in a row, with six featuring an accompanying clean sheet.

Arsenal’s defensive resilience has been off the charts, but they’ve struggled in attack, with two of their last three victories yielding an identical 1-0 scoreline.

One goal may not suffice here, considering Brighton last failed to score in a 2-0 defeat at Everton in the second Premier League round.

However, two goals were not enough to get them points against Manchester United last weekend as they were on the receiving end of a 4-2 scoreline at Old Trafford.

That doesn’t make for promising reading ahead of this trip to the Emirates Stadium, where they’ve only lost one of their last five competitive matches against the Gunners.

Liverpool vs Crystal Palace

Liverpool’s form unfathomably spiralled after a strong start to their Premier League title defence, putting manager Arne Slot under heavy pressure following a memorable maiden season at Anfield.

Five defeats from their last six games in all competitions paint a bleak picture for the Reds, who fell to a dismal 3-2 loss at Brentford on Saturday.

Luckily for the Merseyside giants, Crystal Palace arrive at Anfield in poor form, having lost three of their last four fixtures, most recently losing to Arsenal at the weekend.

Back-to-back losses without scoring Palace’s early-season confidence, derailing Oliver Glasner’s hopes of beating Slot in his own backyard for the second time on the trot.