Triumphing in the Carabao Cup final would be about the glory of winning silverware for Liverpool players and fans, but the club would also be in line for prize money.
Liverpool’s League Cup final against Newcastle will conjure up the full scale of emotions between the two sets of fans come full time.
As one team lifts the trophy, they will also be earning a place in next season’s Europa Conference League.
This is, of course, irrelevant to Liverpool, who need just eight points from nine games to guarantee Champions League qualification.
In addition, the winners of the League Cup will take home £100,000, while the runners-up will receive £50,000.
How does the Carabao Cup prize money compare to other competitions?
The £100,000 received for winning the League Cup completely pales in comparison to the prize money for other competitions.
For example, Liverpool earned £115,000 alone for their third round FA Cup victory over League Two’s Accrington Stanley. Mo Salah is paid about £350,000 per week by Liverpool.
The winners of the FA Cup will receive £2 million this season, with the second-place side earning half of that.
The gap then becomes an even larger chasm when comparing to the Champions League prize pot.
Just for entering the league phase of the Champions League, Liverpool received about £15.7m, with each league phase win alone worth £1.7m.
The prize money for reaching the round of 16 was £13.5m and the eventual European Cup winners will earn £21m for their final victory.
Meanwhile, the prize for winning the Europa League final is about £11m.
If you had any doubt as to where the priority of the clubs’ owners lie, the figure of £15.7m for entering the Champions League league phase is 157 times more than the prize money for winning the League Cup.
Of course, the supporters and players won’t have any of that in their minds come Sunday afternoon.
Football is about scoring goals, winning matches and ultimately lifting trophies, whatever level you play at.
Even for the most elite players in the world, that rule doesn’t change.
