Liverpool have booked their place in the Carabao Cup final and that could have a major effect on the Premier League title race. Liverpool are set to meet Newcastle at Wembley on March 16 and the Reds' progression to the final means their Premier League clash with Aston Villa has been rescheduled. They were meant to make the trip to Villa Park on March 15, but the game will now take place on February 19.
Arne Slot's side are currently top of the league, with Liverpool six points clear of Arsenal with a game in hand after their Merseyside derby clash with Everton was postponed due to Storm Darragh. That game has been rescheduled for February 12 and, with Liverpool reaching the final and Arsenal being knocked out in the semi-finals, Mikel Arteta's will then have a game in hand after the Reds take on Villa a week later.
As a result, Liverpool could stretch their lead to 12 points with Arsenal's fixture against Chelsea on March 16 now going ahead as planned after the Gunners failed to reach the final themselves. However, it also means Liverpool face an incredibly busy run of games over the next month or so. Beginning with their FA Cup fourth round clash against Plymouth Argyle on Sunday (Feb 9), Liverpool will play six games in the space of just 17 days. It comes after Slot claimed the busy schedule means English clubs should be allowed to select bigger matchday squads.
Speaking ahead of Liverpool's clash with Tottenham, Slot called for the authorities expand matchday squads from 20 players to 23. "That is one of the only things I don't understand here in England," Slot said. "Everywhere around the world, and in Europe as well when we play Champions League, we can take 23 players to the game and we are here in a country where we play the most games – especially the likes of Aston Villa, us, Arsenal, Chelsea, all the ones that are playing in Europe – and we have the League Cup over here and we have the FA Cup.
"So, we play so, so many games, so if you are able to play all these games you need a big squad. That seems fair to me and then one of the things that is so important for a manager, so to pick the first XI is difficult, to tell someone that he is not even in the squad makes it even harder. "So, I don't understand why we don't go to 23 in this country because this country plays the most games everywhere around the world and we only have 20 players that we can take to the games. So, it's not for that game, because nine substitutes are more than enough, but to keep the dressing room going because you need more than 20 players in this country because we play so many games.".
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