Carabao Cup semi-final draw: Chelsea face Middlesbrough as Liverpool battle Fulham

Chelsea have been drawn against Championship side Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

Meanwhile, west London rivals Fulham will take on fellow Premier League side Liverpool for a place in the February showpiece at Wembley.

It will be the first meeting between Chelsea and Middlesbrough since March 2022, when the Blues ran out 2-0 winners in an FA Cup quarter-final contest at the Riverside Stadium thanks to first-half goals from Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech.

Chelsea have won all of their last nine meetings with Boro dating back to 2007, with the Teesiders last beating them in 2006.

The semi-final tie will take place over two legs across the weeks commencing January 8 and 22, 2024, with Chelsea set to be at home at Stamford Bridge for the second leg after heading to the Riverside first.

Chelsea beat AFC Wimbledon, Brighton and Blackburn to advance through to the quarters, before Mykhailo Mudryk's last-gasp equaliser against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night cancelled out Callum Wilson's early opener to tee up a penalty shootout won after Kieran Trippier's miss and Djordje Petrovic's save from Matt Ritchie.

Middlesbrough, who beat Bolton in Cardiff to win the then-Carling Cup under Steve McClaren in 2004, currently sit in mid-table in the second tier after recovering from a dire start to the season under Manchester United legend Michael Carrick and saw off Huddersfield, Bolton, Bradford and Exeter before easing past League One outfit Port Vale 3-0 away on Tuesday night to secure their first semi-final spot for two decades.

Fulham, meanwhile, will travel to Anfield for the first leg of their semi-final tie before hosting the record nine-time winners at Craven Cottage in the return fixture next month.

The Cottagers have already ousted Liverpool's rivals Everton on penalties - with Tosin Adarabioyo the hero - to mark a winning return for manager Marco Silva to Merseyside, also knocking out Tottenham, Norwich and Ipswich before that.

They face a tough task though in their first-ever Carabao Cup semi-final and first cup semi-final of any kind since 2002, with Liverpool back on song to crush West Ham 5-1 in the final quarter-final tie at Anfield on Wednesday night.

Jurgen Klopp's Reds, Carabao Cup winners over Chelsea in 2022, had already seen off Leicester and Bournemouth as they search for a record-extending 10th triumph and second in three years.

Fulham lost a Premier League thriller against Liverpool 4-3 at Anfield only this month, while they have only won one of their last 11 meetings versus their semi-final opponents.