Liverpool entertained Arsenal at Anfield earlier tonight hoping to progress into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup. The Reds began the contest on the front foot and took the lead in the sixth minute via an unfortunate own goal from Shkodran Mustafi. However, Unai Emery’s men came back roaring and scored three quick-fire goals via Lucas Torreira’s strike and a brace from Gabriel Martinelli. James Milner narrowed the deficit from the penalty spot just before half-time to hand his team a timely boost.
The second half was more of the same with both teams looking threatening going forward. The North London giants scored courtesy of Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ finish from close range. However, the European champions refused to give up and found the back of the net twice via Oxlade-Chamberlain and Origi to level the scoreline on the night.
But Joe Willock put the visitors ahead again in the 69th minute. Even then it was not enough as his goal was cancelled out by Origi’s strike in injury-time. The clash ended 5-5 after the referee blew the full-time whistle. The Reds won the shoot-out with a 5-4 scoreline to keep their EFL Cup hopes alive.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player performed during the match against the Gunners.
GK: Caoimhin Kelleher – 5/10
The Liverpool keeper distributed the ball accurately without making any mistakes, but he failed to stop any of Arsenal’s five goals on the night. However, he made amends in the shoot-out by saving Dani Ceballos’ penalty.
RB: Neco Williams – 6.5/10
The Reds youngster was defensively vulnerable and found it challenging to cope with Bukayo Saka’s pace. However, he was quite energetic going forward and delivered a fantastic pass to set-up Origi for the all-important equaliser in injury-time. Overall, it was an eventful night for Williams on his senior team debut.
CB: Joe Gomez – 5/10
The English centre-back struggled without Van Dijk and ended up shipping in five goals on the night. Gomez will be hoping to improve in the coming weeks so that he can regain his place in Klopp’s starting XI.
CB: Sepp van den Berg – 3/10
The Dutch defender was sloppy when in possession of the ball and made quite a few mistakes at the back. Hopefully, he can nip those errors in the bud during the latter stages of this competition.
LB: James Milner – 6/10
The English veteran stepped up to score the crucial penalty in the 43rd minute. However, he made a catastrophic error at the back, which fortunately didn’t cost Liverpool from winning on the night.
CM: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 8/10
The ex-Arsenal playmaker made some driving runs from midfield and scored with a spectacular strike in the 57th minute. He is currently in a great run of form, and he continued to show it earlier this evening.
CM: Adam Lallana – 6/10
The English midfield ace was caught out in possession time and again but he still managed to put in a matured display in the second half.
CM: Naby Keita – 3/10
The Guinea international was a passenger throughout most of the game as he struggled to get going in the opposition half.
RM: Harvey Elliott – 6/10
The former Newcastle United starlet used his pace well to stretch the pitch. However, Elliot lacked the cutting edge in the final third.
ST: Rhian Brewster – 6/10
The English rising star never looked like he would be able to find the back of the net. However, he did step up to convert from the spot which helped Liverpool win that shootout.
LM: Divock Origi – 10/10
Origi did exceptionally well to lead the charge for the home side. The Belgian frontman dragged his team back on his own and scored two incredible goals in the second half.
Substitutes:
CM: Curtis Jones – 6/10
He hardly gave away the ball and was always willing to look up and find his teammates in space. Jones ended up scoring the winning penalty, which will give him a timely confidence boost.
CM: Pedro Chirivella – N/A
He came on to get some game time under his belt.
