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The Carabao Cup semifinals are upon us as Arsenal take on Newcastle United on Tuesday, before Tottenham Hotspur host Liverpool on Wednesday. But with the two-legged ties completed on Feb. 3 and Feb. 4, and the final set to take place on March 16 at Wembley, which team wants the trophy most?
We have ranked the four teams in order of needing to win it and looked at the reasons why.
4. LIVERPOOL
Liverpool's love affair with the Carabao Cup dates back to the 1980s, with the Anfield club's haul of 10 titles rendering them the most successful team in the competition's history.
That said, winning the trophy ranks pretty low on the club's list of priorities. Arne Slot's side are top of the Premier League by six points with a game in hand and also lead the way in the new 36-team Champions League table, with designs on both trophies.
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Far from encountering a decline following Jürgen Klopp's departure in the summer, Liverpool have hit new heights under Slot and are in a strong position to win at least one major honour this season.
Should Liverpool fail to lift either the Premier League or Champions League this term, winning the Carabao Cup would be scant consolation. However, last season's final was one of the most memorable days of the Klopp era as a youthful, injury-ravaged Liverpool team toppled Chelsea at Wembley thanks to an extra-time winner from captain Virgil van Dijk.
Going on to retain the trophy this season could prove to be the extra spark Slot's side need to propel them to further honours. -- Lindop
3. ARSENAL
Arsenal have done almost everything under Mikel Arteta ... except win trophies on a regular basis. They have pushed Manchester City all the way in the Premier League for two years and reached the Champions League quarterfinals last season for the first time in 14 years.
Arteta won the 2020 FA Cup, but of the starting XI that beat Chelsea at Wembley in August that year, only one player (Kieran Tierney) is still at the club and he is now a peripheral figure who could leave this month. And so, Arteta's Arsenal as we know it today have really won nothing as a group.
There is no denying that despite this, the Carabao Cup is bottom on their list of priorities, a reality reflected in the regularly rotated lineup Arteta selects as he focuses on the Premier League title he truly craves. But only last month, Arteta underlined how transformative a victory in this competition could be for his young squad.
"Touching the cup, and being in the semifinal and beating somebody in the final, it is that energy and it creates the right path to go and do something else, particularly because of the timing and when the competition is played in this country," he said. "It gets that momentum going." -- Olley
play2:26Did Postecoglou make a mistake dropping Son and Maddison?
ESPN's Mark Donaldson and Janusz Michallik give their immediate reaction to Tottenham's 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United.
2. TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou has long argued that winning a minor trophy does not by itself constitute success, but lifting the Carabao Cup might be the quickest way to save his job.
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ESPN sources continue to insist that Postecoglou retains the backing of the club's hierarchy, but Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle made it just three wins from 14 games across all competitions. Boos rang out at full-time and while the atmosphere isn't mutinous, there is discontent bubbling under the surface.
Postecoglou may have joined Tottenham espousing a belief that they should be competing for the biggest prizes, but the majority of Spurs fans just crave any sort of trophy, with the team having not collected any since 2008. The manager would be right to argue that winning the competition this season wouldn't be a sudden validation or vindication of everything that had gone before, but it would constitute a tangible return for his methods, which are being questioned more with each passing week.
Furthermore, while there is still just under half the Premier League season to play, Spurs are already facing a scramble to reach any sort of European competition given they currently sit in 12th place. The Carabao Cup winners gain qualification to the UEFA Conference League playoff round, which is better than nothing. -- Olley
1. NEWCASTLE UNITED
When Newcastle reached the Carabao Cup final at Wembley in 2023, supporters flocked in the thousands to London's Trafalgar Square, turning the capital black and white on the eve on their team's clash with Manchester United.
While it was Erik ten Hag's side that ultimately lifted the trophy, winning the final 2-0 thanks to goals from Casemiro and Marcus Rashford, the emotional reaction ignited by the occasion is proof of how much Newcastle fans crave silverware.
The club last won a major trophy in 1955 in the shape of the FA Cup, beating Manchester City 3-1 in the final. Amid the despondency of Mike Ashley's era of ownership, yielding another major honour very much felt like a distant dream. But the club's resurgence under the new Saudi-backed owners has inspired optimism in the fan base that its 70-year wait could soon come to an end.
After having had to weather a slightly sticky patch in the autumn, Eddie Howe's side is now in a rich vein of form, having won each of its past six games in all competitions. If Newcastle were to get their hands on the Carabao Cup next month, it would only strengthen the notion in the North East that this sleeping giant of a club is most definitely awake. -- Lindop
Source: espn.co.uk