Chelsea make unwanted English football history after Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool

Chelsea made unwanted English football history after losing the Carabao Cup final to Liverpool at Wembley on Sunday.

The two sides played out a remarkable cup final that had a total of 42 attempts on goal, with Reds captain Virgil van Dijk popping up with the winner just when it looked like penalties were looming.

But it was a massive missed opportunity from Chelsea, who came up against a Liverpool side without the likes of Mo Salah, Diogo Jota, Dominik Szoboszlai, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones and Alisson Becker.

Ryan Gravenberch added to the injury list in the first half after being stretchered off following a shocker of a challenge from Moises Caicedo.

Liverpool ended up with a number of young, inexperienced kids on the pitch for the showpiece but they more than competed with Chelsea's "Blue billion pound bottlejobs" as Gary Neville put it on Sky Sports commentary.

And the defeat continues a dismal trend for Chelsea in recent cup finals.

As highlighted by TNT Sports, they have now become the first team to play in six domestic cup finals.

They lost the League Cup to Manchester City in 2019, before suffering FA Cup final defeats to Arsenal and Leicester City.

Image: Getty

2022 saw Chelsea lose both cup finals to Liverpool on penalties and now two years on, the same opponent have defeated them once more.

Chelsea's last domestic cup final win was the FA Cup back in 2018 when they beat Manchester United 1-0.

Their only other opportunity at silverware this season is the FA Cup, with Chelsea in action against Leeds United in the fifth round on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Liverpool have now lifted the League Cup for the tenth time and the triumph sees them move past rivals United as the most successful team in English football history.

Including domestic and international leagues, cups and super cups, Liverpool have 68 trophies - one more than United.