⚽️ Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea March on in Carabao Cup

Good morning. The Carabao Cup, a.k.a. the League Cup, is well behind both the Premier League trophy and the FA Cup in terms of prestige. Why are we devoting today’s newsletter to its Round of 16, you ask? Because some truly impactful events transpired as the Carabao Cup field dwindled to eight.

The Scores:

• Manchester United (H) 0, Newcastle United 3: Hoo boy. Read all about this one and the fallout below.

• West Ham United (H) 3, Arsenal 1: Less of a hoo boy, more of a Rock-esque eyebrow raise. You can read about this one and the aftershocks below, too.

• Everton (H) 3, Burnley 0: The Toffees sent out a strong XI and dispatched relegation fodder Burnley with relative ease.

• Bournemouth (H) 1, Liverpool 2: All due respect to the Cherries who held their own in this one, but Liverpool got goals from first-team choices Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo to move on in the draw.

• Ipswich Town (H) 1, Fulham 3: The Cottagers got a welcome taste of what being the clearly best team on the field is like in a match where they never trailed.

• Chelsea (H) 2, Blackburn Rovers 0: After the weekend’s dispiriting home loss in the Premier League, Chelsea really needed this win even if it came against a mid-table Championship team.

• Exeter City (H) 2, Middlesbrough 3; Mansfield Town (H) 0, Port Vale 1: Middlesbrough (10th in the Championship) and Port Vale (16th in League One) are the definitions of “happy to be here.”

The quarterfinal draw (matches scheduled for December 19):

Everton (H) vs. Fulham; Chelsea (H) vs. Newcastle; Port Vale (H) vs. Middlesbrough; Liverpool (H) vs. West Ham

Our take: Hmm…so the two non-Premier League teams were somehow randomly drawn to face each other in the quarterfinals? That seems wildly unlikely! The other three matches are actually pretty compelling. Liverpool (+200), Newcastle (+260) and Chelsea (+320) are the book’s favorites to lift the first silver of the season. Port Vale (+25000) are, uh, not favored.

In the email today:

Manchester United’s season appeared to have reached a breaking point over the weekend when the Red Devils were taken apart by Manchester City. “Hold our beers,” they appeared to say yesterday as they lost by the same score in the Carabao Cup Round of 16, again at home, this time to Newcastle United.

• With the Red Devils losing 2-0 in the first half, Newcastle fans taunted United manager Erik ten Hag with chants of “you’ll be sacked in the morning.”

• United's season has been marked by poor performances and multiple defeats, including the recent beating at the hands of crosstown rival City.

• Despite Eddie Howe making eight changes to his Newcastle lineup, they comfortably beat Manchester United, highlighting the home club's ongoing struggles.

• Manchester United has lost eight of its 15 games in all competitions and is underperforming in both the Champions League and the Premier League given their significant wage bill for players.

• Ten Hag toed the line carefully, saying on one hand that he took responsibility for the team’s woes but also noting that his players had to take responsibility individually for their performances.

Our take: We fully expect that most of the English soccer press already have their versions of the “ten Hag fired” pieces they are going to run soon saved to drafts. Here at Crossing the Pond HQ, we generally subscribe to the belief that managers get fired most of the time because it’s more doable than firing a dozen or more players. In this instance, though, ten Hag is clearly out of ideas, and when he goes it will be addition by subtraction for United.

2) ⚒️ West Ham Ejects Arsenal from Carabao Cup

The recent Arsenal renaissance hit a nasty bump yesterday as the Gunners were run out of the London Stadium by West Ham in the Round of 16. This trophy isn’t the one Arsenal is (ahem) gunning for, but any cup exit brings with it questions around mentality and toughness.

• Arsenal suffered a disappointing 3-1 defeat to West Ham in the Carabao Cup, resulting in their exit from the competition.

• The loss raised questions about the team's performance and mindset, even though the Carabao Cup will not be not a defining factor in their season.

• Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta had challenged his players to maintain a high level of performance across competitions, but on this day they failed to meet the challenge.

• The opening goal had a degree of controversy, with Arsenal claiming that goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was fouled by Tomás Soucek before Ben White's own goal.

• Arsenal's collective failure to take responsibility and their poor performance frustrated Arteta, harkening back to challenges he faced early in his managerial tenure.

Our take: Until Arsenal wins the Premier League — or at the very least, the FA Cup — the team’s players and its manager are inevitably going to face scrutiny and doubt about their capacity to win at the highest level. Lost in that skepticism is just how far the Gunners have come in the last few seasons; before that, the team was in real jeopardy of being where United is now.

3) ❌ of the Day: The Special One Weighs in on the ten Hag Situation

4) 🗳️ Poll: Which Team Will Win the Carabao Cup?

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response tomorrow.

5) 🔗 Link Roundup:

• ⚖️ “You ARE the father!” An African court ordered former Premier League striker Asamoah Gyan to pay support to his ex-wife and three kids after DNA testing proved that their three children were his.

• 🚐 Liverpool’s flight home from Bournemouth following their match was cancelled due to high winds, and the Reds took the bus home.

• 🦊 While Burnley, Luton Town and Sheffield United are in joint free fall in the Prem, Leicester City are an absolute wagon in the Championship.

• 💷 Brentford’s asking price for Ivan Toney? Try £100M.

The newsletter today was written by Phil Keidel. Follow Phil @philkeidel on X.

Thanks for reading!