Chelsea stunned Aston Villa by turning in their best performance of the season in a 3-1 to book their place in Round 5 of the FA Cup. Jamie Carragher wasn’t best pleased with the result though.
What did Carragher say?
Writing in a column in The Telegraph, Carragher said: “With apologies to Chelsea fans, Aston Villa’s midweek defeat in the FA Cup replay is a setback for English football.
“Villa had the ability to go all the way to those Wembley steps.
“Their loss means that it is highly likely the three major domestic honours will again be shared between the same clubs, underlining how difficult it is to emerge from the pack so the trophy engravers are spelling out different names.
“Since the Premier League was formed in 1992, there have only been three seasons in which the title was not won by Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea or Arsenal.
“Over that period, there are only four years in which one of those clubs or Liverpool did not lift the FA Cup.
“The chances of anyone other than those five winning the League Cup have been better, but not lately. The last team outside of the Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Liverpool to win the competition was Swansea City in 2013. By May, it is likely that 80 out of the last 96 major domestic trophies will have been paraded at the same five venues.
Leicester FA Cup winners
The last team outside of the ‘big six’ to win was Leicester City in 2021. They beat Chelsea 1-0 in the final.
Before that was Wigan Athletics’ famous 1-0 win over Manchester City in 2013.
Carragher added: “This is a healthy situation for the serial winners, but not for our game. We need more variety in the honours’ lists.
“The reason for that is not just the power and wealth of the ‘big five’. Those just below them should have done better.”
FA Cup Fifth round
Chelsea will now face promotion chasing Leeds United in the next round. A place in the Quarter-Final is up for grabs.
Other top six clubs like Liverpool will face Southampton, Manchester City travel to Luton whilst Manchester United will go up against Nottingham Forest.
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