Liverpool ensured it will still be alive in four competitions in the new year courtesy of Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup victory over Southampton.
The 2-1 win had plenty of positives for Arne Slot and his players, the most obvious being that passage was secured to the semi-finals of the competition. There were impressive displays from Caoimhin Kelleher, Alexis Mac Allister and Darwin Nunez. That the former got on the scoresheet was another encouraging aspect of the trip to St Mary’s.
Kostas Tsimikas, Federico Chiesa and Jayden Danns also came back after recent injuries, while there were rare starts for Wataru Endo and Tyler Morton. Seventeen-year-old Trey Nyoni also showed plenty of bright moments on his full debut. It was a good night.
The second period was less convincing from Liverpool, albeit that was largely down to Slot’s changes and looking ahead to the visit to Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend. That the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez and Cody Gakpo came off early was another reason for optimism. But don’t take our word for it, here’s what the UK national press had to say from Southampton…
Jason Burt, The Telegraph
This is the one where Arne Slot gambled. The Slot machine chanced his arm and won. Again. The Carabao Cup is not high on the priority list for Liverpool, top of the Premier League and the Champions League, but a Wembley final is close and so they just about squeezed past Southampton and into the last four.
With anything resembling a full-strength side it would have been a canter. But the head coach left most of them back on Merseyside and still had enough to get through. Just. As Slot made even more changes, Southampton failed to take two outstanding chances to force the tie to a penalty shoot-out as they should have done.
But it shows the confidence and position of strength Slot has that he could take such a risk, especially away from Anfield and especially as Liverpool are the holders of this competition. Not that it can be a priority this campaign, as their ambitions are raised, given the demanding fixture schedule.
So the likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Luis Diaz did not even travel to the south coast as they rested up ahead of Sunday’s crucial league game away to Tottenham Hotspur. Instead Slot took a squad with players aged 22, 21, 21, 21, 18, 18, 17 and even 16-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha.
When Liverpool surged into a two-goal lead before the interval, this Carabao Cup quarter-final looked over. Darwin Núñez scored the first and there was a first goal of an injury-hit season for Harvey Elliott. Slot watched it all from up in the press box as he served a touchline suspension for three yellow cards. He was comfortable.
And then he was not because Southampton were vibrant and dangerous in the second half. Cameron Archer got them back into it with a lovely strike and he would miss a big chance for the equalizer. Southampton had other flickers and then, deep into stoppage time, came the moment to have them wondering.
Alyson Rudd, The Times
Arne Slot looked on from the back of the stadium at a Liverpool team deliberately shorn of most of their superstars but who were still inherently classy enough to progress to the semi-finals of the competition the team won last season under Jürgen Klopp.
You could say this victory was a homage to that performance in the final at Wembley against Chelsea when the erstwhile Liverpool manager was forced to make changes and trust in youth, because Slot did something similar here, albeit through choice.
Slot, though, could easily have been left ruing the extent of his rotation when, towards the end, Jarell Quansah looked to have bundled Mateus Fernandes over on the edge of the area but Simon Hooper, the referee, was close to the action and adamant that no foul had occurred. As the last man, Quansah could easily have been sent off.
Instead, Liverpool progressed courtesy of first-half goals from Darwin Núñez and Harvey Elliott, and Slot, as usual, was unperturbed by anything, least of all how improved the opposition were in the second period, joking that his seat was warmer than the one on the touchline.