Chelsea’s Carabao Cup tie against Newcastle United in the fourth round will be decided by the officials on the night at St. James’ Park.
Despite having the VAR technology for the Premier League clash between the sides on Sunday, which saw Chelsea win 2-1 at Stamford Bridge, it will not be in operation on Wednesday on Tyneside.
It will leave the decisions in the hands of Chris Kavanagh, who has been appointed as the official to take charge of the cup tie.
But why is there no VAR in place for the earlier rounds in the Carabao Cup?
Due to all of the participating teams not having the accessibility to implement VAR in their grounds, the EFL took the decision to withdraw it from grounds that could have VAR in operation to ensure it was a level playing field for all teams.
The EFL, who run the competition, have taken the decision to not use VAR to ensure a fair competition across the board
It will be in used in March’s final next year at Wembley, with the possibility of VAR being in use during the semi-final ties should all four teams have the technology in place.
What does Enzo Maresca think of referees and VAR?
The Chelsea head coach fumed earlier in the season when they faced Crystal Palace after Will Hughes wasn’t sent off by Jarred Gillett for a second yellow card offence, which saw VAR unable to intervene due to it not being a straight red card.
“If they had been with 10 I think the game would have completely changed,” Maresca said back in September. “The reaction from their bench, to take (Hughes) off immediately, I think was quite clear. The referee saw it in a different way, so I have nothing to say.
“It was clear for all of us it was a second yellow card. The only one that thinks in a different way is the referee.”
