Carabao Cup Quarter-Final Draw Hands Liverpool Bournemouth Tie and City Bradford Test

The road to Wembley is mapped out. Liverpool will host Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, while defending champions Manchester City face a trip to Bradford City after Wednesday night's draw confirmed the last-eight pairings. Crystal Palace will meet Sunderland, and League Two giant-killers Fleetwood Town will play the winner of Thursday's remaining fourth-round tie between Everton and Newcastle United. The quarter-finals are scheduled for the week of December 14, landing right in the thick of the festive fixture pile-up. Liverpool, City, Bournemouth, Sunderland and Crystal Palace are all balancing European campaigns as well, and each faces at least eight matches across all competitions in December alone. Squad depth will matter as much as form when these ties arrive. The fourth round delivered no shortage of drama. Fleetwood produced what has been called the biggest modern upset in the competition's history by knocking out reigning Premier League champions Arsenal 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. City needed a late comeback and a shootout to get past Brighton 4-3 on penalties, while Liverpool edged Chelsea 6-5 on penalties at Anfield after Wesley Fofana skied his effort. Sunderland beat Brentford 3-2, Bournemouth thumped Aston Villa 3-0, Crystal Palace edged Fulham 1-0 and Bradford saw off Peterborough 2-0. The quarter-finals will again be single-leg knockout ties, with the semi-finals played over two legs.