Semi-final vs Man City 

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The EFL Cup semi-finals get underway this week at St James’ Park, as eight-time winners Manchester City face holders Newcastle in the first leg. Last March, the Magpies got their hands on their first major trophy since 1955 as they beat Liverpool in the final thanks to goals from boyhood fan Dan Burn and the now departed Alexander Isak. This season’s other semi-final sees Chelsea face London rivals Arsenal.

Newcastle now face Pep Guardiola’s juggernauts as they look to make it to back-to-back finals at Wembley. Eddie Howe’s team are just three games away from joining an elite group of clubs who have managed to retain the EFL Cup since its introduction in the 1960/61 season. Let’s find out the other teams to manage this feat.

Every team to retain the EFL Cup

Two teams have managed to not only retain the EFL Cup but do it three times, lifting the trophy four times on the bounce. Guardiola first won the competition with Man City in the 2017/18 season, and then saw his side win the trophy again in 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21, before finally letting someone else get their name on the trophy in 2022. Liverpool also matched this achievement back in the 1980s as they won the competition four time in-a-row between 1981-1984 under Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan.

There has been three other occasions of teams retaining the trophy just the once. Manchester United won it in both the 2008/09 season and the 2009/10 season under Sir Alex Ferguson, beating Tottenham and Aston Villa. The only other club to manage this is Nottingham Forest, but they actually did it twice. Forest retained the EFL Cup in both 1979 and in 1990 under the legendary Brian Clough. Can Newcastle join this illustrious list this season? Only time will tell.