I'm unsure if this discussion thread is an appropriate venue to delve into the Carabao Cup. Yesterday witnessed some truly surprising football outcomes in the matches involving Chelsea vs. Brighton and Manchester City vs. Newcastle. Aside from acknowledging Newcastle's presence in the Champions League, it seems plausible that other teams intentionally opted for early exits to alleviate the burden of participating in numerous competitions throughout the season.
After the match ended, Pep Guardiola said that their focus was just on achieving a treble winner and there was no need to target a quadruple. I think it makes sense that Pep Guardiola doesn't push too hard in EFL competitions because winning titles in major competitions such as the EPL, UCL and Supercup are much better. Moreover, Manchester City is the team that won the treble and of course Pep Guardiola wants to win these 3 titles again this season. So the defeat against Newcastle certainly won't make Manchester City sad.
Regarding Chelsea's match against Brighton, I think Chelsea are very serious in this EFL match, however they are not participating in European competitions, so it is better for them to focus their energy on being able to win and achieve this title. Brighton is also not that serious in this match because they still have a target of becoming one of the teams in the top 4 of the EPL and will also still focus on the European league group phase. So Chelsea's victory felt like entertainment when the team needed a win to be able to win again in the EPL match later.