Of the top six sides, Tottenham and Liverpool are arguably the two teams most desperately in need of a trophy.
While Manchester United (League Cup and Europa winners last season), Arsenal (FA Cup winners last season), Chelsea (Premier League winners last season) and Man City (serial winners over last few years) have all recently won silverware, Spurs and Liverpool have not.
It will have been a decade since Tottenham last won a trophy (the League Cup) by the time this years’ are handed out. For Liverpool it was the 2012 League Cup.
Fans of both sides are crying out for something real to cheer about but there’s more to it than that.
Will the likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli remain with Spurs if they continue to flatter while winning nothing? With their England team-mates and peers lifting trophies elsewhere it’s tough to see them remaining loyal to the club the longer the trophy draught continues.
At Anfield the pressure is already building on Klopp, who while winning the Premier League manager popularity contest has in reality made little difference to Liverpool’s fortunes since replacing Brendan Rodgers.
Winning this season’s League Cup, for those reasons, would therefore be hugely significant for both sides. But the approach of their respective managers is worrying.
Mauricio Pochettino has openly admitted the League Cup is third at best on Tottenham’s priority list.
‘The project is to try to win the Premier League or the Champions League,’ said the ambitious Argentinean ahead of his side’s game with Barnsley. He added: ‘For me, that is the two big trophies. OK, I would love to win the Carabao Cup or the FA Cup for our fans. But . . . if we are going to try to win the Carabao Cup or FA Cup, and forget the Premier League or Champions League, it’s a big mistake.’
Klopp has said the right things before his side’s third round contest: ‘Importance is same as ever. 100 per cent focus on that game. Big competition, I don’t care how people see it.’
But in the build-up to the tricky looking tie with Leicester, Klopp admitted he would be making numerous changes to his side.
Both managers look to be taking the wrong approach to a competition that represents the easiest route to accomplishing vital goals for their respective clubs – they should change their approach. But it seems before the fourth round draw has even been made, it may well be too late.
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