How Liverpool could benefit from Newcastle or Manchester United winning the 2023 Carabao Cup

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Liverpool fans presumably have no interest in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final between Newcastle and Manchester United.

The Reds are still reeling from Tuesday’s nightmarish 5-2 defeat to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League, which left Jürgen Klopp’s side with a mountain to climb if they are to reach the quarter-final.

However, there is one reason why Liverpool should be taking an interest in the Carabao Cup final.

How Liverpool could benefit from Newcastle & Manchester United Carabao Cup result

Well, it has been a terrible season for Liverpool so far – to say the least.

At the time of writing, Klopp’s side sit seventh in the Premier League, which would not be good enough to achieve qualification for any of UEFA’s European competitions in the 2023/24 campaign.

Having said that, seventh in the Premier League could secure Liverpool a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying rounds as Newcastle and Manchester United fight for the Carabao Cup.

Whoever wins the Carabao Cup will be awarded a spot in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers – as revealed on the Premier League’s official website.

However, Newcastle and Manchester United are both likely to earn a place in the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League via their Premier League position, so the UEFA Europa Conference League qualifier prize would be passed on to the side who finish seventh in the Premier League.

As things stand, Newcastle sit fifth in the Premier League – which would see them qualify for the UEFA Europa League – while Manchester United are on course for a UEFA Champions League spot as they are third.

Fifth and sixth place in the Premier League are awarded a spot in the Europa League, with seventh receiving nothing as the only UEFA Europa Conference League place comes via the Carabao Cup.

That is why West Ham qualified for the UEFA Europa Conference League this season, as Liverpool qualified for the UEFA Champions League thanks to finishing second in the Premier League, after beating Chelsea to the Carabao Cup last term.

Therefore, Liverpool could be handed an unlikely route into Europe next season if they fail to improve on their current standing of seventh in the Premier League.

Of course, Liverpool fans, the players and Klopp himself will want to be playing at a higher level than the UEFA Europa Conference League, but this would simply be the best of a bad scenario if their wretched form continues.