There’s an argument to be made that the League Cup is better than the FA Cup.
There’s no replays, no nonsense about the “magic of the cup”, the games are played under floodlights in midweek, league action isn’t disrupted and the whole tournament is wrapped up by March.
There’s also no pretence about the competition. It’s used play young players and fringe members of a team’s squad, and people generally accept it.
The FA Cup has also become a tournament to play young players and fringe squad members, but when it occurs there’s always someone bleating about not paying the cup it’s proper respect.
This season’s League Cup has also drawn a number of potentially memorable ties that will take some beating when the FA Cup third round gets underway in January.
Two of the stand-out games in the fourth-round are Manchester United hosting Manchester City, and Tottenham Hotspur travelling to Anfield to play Liverpool.
West Ham will also host Chelsea at the Olympic Stadium.
The games will be played on the 25th and 26th of October, and the build-up to the second Manchester derby of the season has already begun, if the lengthy build-up to the last meeting between the pair is anything to go by.
#WHUFC v #CFC!#MUFC v #MCFC!#LFC v #THFC!
Some eye catching @EFLCup 4th round ties! pic.twitter.com/ZpXYYVEzGD— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) September 21, 2016
