Carabao Cup: Police want Chelsea v Liverpool final to start ‘no later than 3pm’

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool will play a Chelsea side managed by Mauricio Pochettino in the 2024 Carabao Cup final

The Metropolitan Police has told the Football League it wants the Carabao Cup final to kick off no later than 15:00 GMT on Sunday, 25 February.

The game between Chelsea and Liverpool at Wembley has been designated a ‘high-risk’ fixture.

When the two clubs met in the final two years ago the match kicked off at 16:30 GMT, but there has since been a change in the way police manage such fixtures.

The last EFL Cup final which started at 15:00 GMT or earlier was in 2014.

That was when Manchester City beat Sunderland in a game that kicked off at 14:00 GMT.

Last season’s Carabao Cup final between Manchester United and Newcastle United started at 16:30 GMT, although the FA Cup final between Manchester United and Manchester City on 3 June kicked off at 15:00 BST.

“Preparations for the EFL Cup policing operation are under way following the conclusion of the two semi-finals and we are working with partners including the Wembley Stadium, local authority and EFL on agreeing the kick-off time,” said the Metropolitan Police.

“Our partners are aware this match qualifies as a ‘high-risk’ fixture and in accordance with national guidance from the UK Football Policing Unit, this fixture should kick off no later than 3pm.”

A 15:00 GMT kick-off could have implications for the Premier League match between Wolves and Sheffield United that is scheduled to be played at Molineux the same day.

Sky Sports are the rights holders for both matches, with the Wolves encounter currently set to start at 13:30 GMT.