For a competition that is often ridiculed, the Carabao Cup produced some interesting moments this week.
As we sit and contemplate as to who Chelsea will draw in the next round, something we will find out on Saturday night, I’ve selected three items that caught my attention.
Firstly, I couldn’t compile an article of this nature without acknowledging the magnificent goal that Eden Hazard scored at Anfield. With the game delicately poised at 1-1 and with it looking as if it would go to a penalty shoot-out, Eden stepped up and produced a mesmerising piece of skill that was finished with a sublime shot. Now was it his best goal for Chelsea? I’ll let you decide.
The second item just has to be Frank Lampard’s Derby County winning at Old Trafford, albeit on penalties. Derby more than held their own against Mourinho’s troubled side and could have won it in normal time. However, faced with what can be a lottery, the penalty shoot-out, Derby were magnificent, their penalties were spot on and not a single one was missed. Interesting to see that the first penalty in the shoot-out was taken by Mason Mount, a youngster on-loan at Derby for the season, a confident finish from a player with a golden future.
The third item happened at the London Stadium, where West Ham United, who held Chelsea to a draw in our last Premier League fixture, beat Macclesfield 8-0. Now even against a side that is bottom of League Two, that takes some doing, shame it was watched by under 25,000 though and that was with dramatically reduced ticket prices, remind me again how many the London Stadium holds!
As for who Chelsea might get in the next round, my gut feeling says it could be Derby County, at Stamford Bridge, now that would be some occasion, the return of Frank Lampard to the very place where he’s considered a legend.