Bonus Jürgen Klopp quotes: “I loved it. We could talk about tactics but why on a night like that? What they did tonight, how they played, I loved it. In the end I encouraged them to keep going. With the team we had tonight, having 60% possession is crazy. We made mistakes. It’s not too smart but it can happen. You have to stay brave. It’s like a dream to play the first time at Anfield. You have to stay on track and I really loved it that they wanted it at the end. All the goals they scored were lovely. Arsenal’s goals – apart from Willock’s – were a bit scrappy, but who cares? it’s about being a hero on a night like this.”
I’m going for a stiff drink now. So I’ll leave you with this match report from Anfield by Any Hunter, who probably needs more than one stiff drinks. Thanks for your emails, tweets and Mizzy Night remembrances. Good night!
In the other matches tonight, Aston Villa beat Wolves 2-1. You can read that report here:
And Manchester United won 2-1 at Chelsea. Marcus Rashford scored a belter, by all accounts. Rob Smyth is handling the afterparty there:
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“Is it just me, or does Unai Emery remind anyone of Alan Partridge sporting a Ray Reardon (snooker) haircut?” offers Graham S Timmins. It’s not just you Graham. We’ll have the match report up shortly, by the way. But as you can imagine, it was not an easy game to file on.
“How has Kelleher managed to concede five goals and still come out of the game as a hero?” asks Eoin Jones. Football’s just ridiculous isn’t it?
They are just showing a replay of Liverpool’s celebrations after Curtis Jones’s winning penalty. They reacted like they had won the World Cup. And that’s how it should be shouldn’t it? It’s the best moment in football to date for many of these youngsters and it was lovely to see. Harvey Elliott, who didn’t take a penalty, was down on his knees and fist-pumping, while Jones was involved in a pile-on with his teammates in the corner.
We have an answer to more goals in regular time than penalties – and it’s a match I was at. “Istanbul 2005,” writes Henri du Périer. It was 3-2 to Liverpool on penalties, of course.
“We always have special nights at Anfield,” says Divock Origi, whose injury-time volley forced penalties. “We always keep on going. That’s our mentality. Ox’s goal was amazing but the whole team – everybody fought. We just maximised.” They certainly did. “We want to go for every cup. For a lot of guys it was their first game. It’s a game against Arsenal at home. So we want to make a special night.” Yes, they did that.
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“When was the last time there were more goals in the game than in the penalty shootout?” asks Neil Hattersley. I have no idea, Neil, but I feel like Mustafi’s own goal happened three years ago.
Full-time: Liverpool 5-5 Arsenal (Liverpool win 5-4 on penalties)
Even when Arsenal score five goals they don’t win away. Different but same old Arsenal? And even when Liverpool can’t defend, they win games. Same old new Liverpool?
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Penalty scored! Liverpool 5-4 Arsenal
Curtis Jones, the scouser, clips his penalty in off the left post and gives Martinez no chance. Liverpool are through to the quarter-finals after a ridiculous match. And what a moment for Jones.
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Penalty scored! Liverpool 4-4 Arsenal
Maitland-Niles holds his nerve and scores into the top corner with incredible calm.
Penalty scored! Liverpool 4-3 Arsenal
Origi hammers home into the left corner, sending Martinez the wrong way.
Penalty missed! Liverpool 3-3 Arsenal
Kelleher guesses right and leaps to his right to save Ceballos’s penalty!
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Penalty scored! Liverpool 3-3 Arsenal
Brewster holds his nerve and drives it low to Martinez’s right.
Penalty scored! Liverpool 2-3 Arsenal
Martinelli sidefoots to Kelleher’s left. He’s been red-hot tonight.
Penalty scored! Liverpool 2-2 Arsenal
Lallana hammers it into the top corner.
Penalty scored! Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal
Guendouzi sneaks it in the bottom corner.
Penalty scored! Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal
Milner rattles his home low to Martinez’s right.
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Penalty scored! Liverpool 0-1 Arsenal
Bellerin finds the top left with ease. Very cool.
What a ridiculous game of football, eh? The Kop belts out You’ll Never Walk Alone while the two managers decide who is going to take the spot-kicks. Arsenal will take the first kick and they’ll be down at the Kop end.
“You think this Mizzy Night match is crazy, Gregg, get this: Manchester United have actually scored from the penalty spot in the other game!” Justin Kavanagh brings the giggles.
Full-time: Liverpool 5-5 Arsenal
My word! We’re heading to penalties. I need a quick lie down.
Goal! Liverpool 5-5 Arsenal (Origi 90+4min)
Wow! Williams lofts a cross in to Origi, who pulls away from his marker and volleys on the turn into the corner of the goal. Oh Arsenal! Oh football! Oh Fizzy Cup, how we love you!
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90+3 min: Arsenal look like they might just be able to see this out.
90+1 min: Jones catches Tierney with a forearm after clashing in midfield. The Scottish full-back is made of tough stuff, though, and is soon back up on his feet. “Imagine how exciting the Premier League could be if it was under 22’s,” writes David Lwason. Under 22s and rusty old-timers. It’s the future. Or is that what the MLS is?
90 min: There’ll be five minutes of injury time, which is surely enough time for another 12 goals.
88 min: A chance for Liverpool. Brewster mistimes a header after a lovely inswinging cross from Milner from the left. Jones picks up the scraps and lays the ball back to Chirivelli, whose shot is blocked.
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87 min: “What a strange yet great game. Not strange enough to fully distract from the pitch side ads though,” writes Julian Smith. “It’s great to see LFC inching back up to that perch, especially as we now have our very own Official Coconut Milk Partner and LFC branded child seats. We envied Man Utd for two decades but isn’t this going a little far?” You don’t win anything without an Official Coconut Milk Partner, Julian.
86 min: Milner hooks the free-kick to the back post but Mutafi clears not once, but twice. Ceballos then has a fine chance to set Willock free but he fails to get any height on his attempted through-ball and Liverpool come back looking for an equaliser that would force penalties. Well, it would if there weren’t any more goals – and that’s not guaranteed.
84 min: Holding plays a square pass to absolutely no one. Curtis Jones picks it up and springs a Liverpool attack on the left that eventually fizzes out. Then moments later, Saka hauls Brewster down and Liverpool have a free-kick 35 yards out.
82 min: Kolasinac looks to have taken a knock and is replaced by Tierney. Can Arsenal hold on for eight minutes. I wouldn’t bet on it. But I also wouldn’t bet on this Liverpool backline holding out either. What must Virgil van Dijk be thinking watching this?
79 min: Lallana is robbed on the halfway line by Martinelli but Arsenal fail to make the most of a promising situation. Oxlade-Chamberlain has run his course. He’s replaced by Chirivella, who cost Liverpool hard cash by playing in the last round against MK Dons.
78 min: Liverpool are ramping up the pressure here. Elliott finds a load of space on the right (who on earth was marking him?) but his cross is straight at Martinez and a very good chance to find an equaliser goes begging.
76 min: Brewster is cynically taken out by Kolisinac on the halfway line as Liverpool attempted a break. You don’t get all up in Kolasinac’s face though do you? You just don’t.
74 min: Origi finds Oxlade-Chamberlain with a nice dink forwards, but the midfielder’s cross towards Brewster is cleared by Mustafi. Even if Arsenal win here, the backline have done themselves absolutely no favours in trying to force their way bak into the first XI on a regular basis.
73 min: I’ve had a few emails, but they’re already out of date. Meanwhile, Ceballos is on for Torreira.
72 min: There hasn’t been a goal. I’m disappointed.
Goal! Liverpool 4-5 Arsenal (Willock 71)
It’s another screamer! Willock picks the ball up just inside the Liverpool half, glides past Lallana and then unleashes a viciously whipped right-footed strike into the top-left corner that Kelleher can get nowhere near. This is ludicrous. Brilliant, but ludicrous.
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68 min: … Milner fizzes it into the near post, but Holding heads clear. Liverpool are cranking up the pressure again, though.
67 min: Kolasinac fails to deal with a cross-field pass to Elliott, who runs on to the botched header and wins a corner. It’s whipped in and cleared behind for another …
66 min: Maitland-Niles races to the byline and cuts a low cross back to Martinelli, who wallops well over. That was a fine chance to complete his hat-trick but he lacked composure.
63 min: Emery has taken Ozil off. That’s odd isn’t it? He needed the minutes and was playing well. He’s replaced by Guendouzi, who will undoubtedly add energy but it feels as though this was a night to get 90 minutes out of Ozil, who would have found more holes in this makeshift Liverpool backline.
Goal! Liverpool 4-4 Arsenal (Origi 62)
And here we go again! Jones pops a lovely outside-of-the-foot pass into Origi’s feet on the edge of the box. The striker spins away from Mustafi with a delicious Cruyff turn and hammers a shot at goal that Martinez can only get a few fingers to. The Kop roars behind the goal. Incredible stuff!
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60 min: This could be 8-8 by full-time. Every time either side goes forwards they look like scoring.
Goal! Liverpool 3-4 Arsenal (Oxlade-Chamberlain 57)
My word! Oxlade-Chamberlain pounces to nick the ball away from Maitland-Niles after some half-hearted attempts at clearances from Arsenal’s defence and absolutely wallops a 25-yarder past Martinelli and into the net. Almost through the net, in fact, it was struck so ferociously. What a match!
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57 min: Klopp hooks Keita, who has done very little, for Curtis Jones, a local lad who was man-of-the-match in the last round against MK Dons.
Goal! Liverpool 2-4 Arsenal (Maitland-Niles 54)
Well this is unexpected. The ultra-reliable James Milner is to blame. He plays a short back pass to Kelleher that Maitland-Niles is alert to, getting to the ball ahead of Kelleher and then almost overrunning it past the goal, only for Ozil to keep the ball in play with a delicious flick back to the Arsenal winger who taps home into the open goal.
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51 min: Saka blasts over from 25 yards as Arsenal try to get the upper hand early in the second half. Van Den Berg has looked particularly nervy for Liverpool tonight – and Kelleher has looked a little overawed too. I suppose if Matip were fit Lovren would have played in this. And why Adrian isn’t playing, I don’t know. He’s second-choice now isn’t he and surely needs gametime again should Allison pop a hammy?
49 min: Everything about this match is scrappy – but in a great way way. There are flakes of rust coming off the senior pros and overexuberance from the young whelps. The result is a load of errors which makes it feel like anything could happen.
47 min: Holding makes a hash of dealing with a high ball and flicks a header back towards Mustafi that the Arsenal defender doesn’t expect. Brewster is switched on and runs on to it, shoving off the Gunnrs defender but then getting the ball stuck under his feet. He’s played in again after laying the ball off to Lallana only to sidefoot wide from 12 yards when the angle was never really on.
46 min: It’s not a good start by Liverpool. Kelleher gives Gomez a short pass that he doesn’t really want – and the Liverpool centre-back hoiks it out of play.
Peep!
45 min: It’s the second half. Let’s hope it’ as wildly entertaining as the first half was.
The players are out for the second half. In the matches elsewhere tonight it is:
Aston Villa 1-0 Wolves
Chelsea 0-1 Manchester United
You can look in on that game with rob Smyth here.
“Liverpool’s substitutes’ kit numbers add up to 427. Surely that must be a Carabao Cup record,” writes Ted Lee, in one for the Knowledge.
“Though the young Liverpool boys have been punished for passing at all costs it would help them if Naby and Lallana can put their forward striding heads on,” reckons Ian Copestake. “I’m sure Klopp will put them right. The score might end up divisible by nine.” Jamie Carragher has just made a point about Liverpool’s senior players needing to step up. Origi has been particularly poor.
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Half-time emails
“Kane on the bench? He hung around after VVD removed him from his pocket on Sunday? I jest. In seriousness, I‘m not on board with the idea of not taking the League Cup seriously. For all the brilliant football over the last few years, there haven’t really been any domestic Cup runs from Liverpool. Yes, give youth a chance, and take some of the load off the first team, but go out to win,” writes Matt Dony.
“Gregg, why isn’t the VAR applied?” asks Jukka Itäkylä. “Not that I am missing it, being an Arsenal supporter, you see, but just want to know why.” It’s just not in use at this stage of the League Cup. We should be grateful. We may not have seen two goals but no one can say that the scoreline is not a fair reflection of a rollicking game and we have mercifully been free of lengthy, confusing interruption. It’s like 2017 all over again! That was a crap year but at least VAR didn’t exist in England then.
“In parts of the ol’ US of A we do have ‘mischief night’,” whoops Matt Turner. “It’s called Devil’s Night and the people of Detroit especially embrace it. By trying to burn down their own city every year!”
I’m making a half-time cuppa. I’ll be back with your emails shortly but in the meantime read this lovely piece about a man who Liverpool could do with tonight, or any night.
Half-time: Liverpool 2-3 Arsenal
… because Origi almost levels the game with a header from eight yards out after Elliott stood up a lovely ball to the forwards after a burst down the left. Peep! And breathe …
45+1 min: … from which Torreira slams a shot at goal that is blocked. It falls to Martinelli, but he shoulders the ball straight at Kelleher after failing to make contact with his noggin from eight yards out. And we’re not done yet …
45 min: Lallana is caught dawdling on the ball and Arsenal break with Ozil. He slips Martinelli in down the inside-right channel, but the forward’ cross is blocked by Van Den Berg for a corner …
44 min: Arsenal win a free-kick on the edge of the box after Saka, I think, is fouled. Ozil and Torreira stand over it … and Torreira hammers it over the bar. Ozil should have been on that, surely.
Goal! Liverpool 2-3 Arsenal (Milner 43 pen)
The captain hammers it low into the left corner. What a mad game this is shaping up to be. Who needs Mizzy Night for thrills and spills?
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Penalty to Liverpool!
Martinelli appears to catch Elliott’s toe in the box and Marriner points to the spot. It was minimal contact but it’s been given.
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37 min: Liverpool are on the ropes now. Maitland-Niles bangs in a low cross that Van Den Berg scrambles clear. And then moments later, Ozil nutmegs Elliott with an insouciant flick to set Maitland-Niles free down the right again. This time, his cross is cleared with no alarms and no surprises.
Goal! Liverpool 1-3 Arsenal (Martinelli 36)
Oh dear! Liverpool’s inexperienced right-hand side costs them. Williams plays a short pass up to Elliott, who doesn’t look inside as he lays the ball off. Saka nicks it before Gomez can rescue the situation, then races away down the left and squares the ball for an unmarked Martinelli to crash home from 10 yards.
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34 min: Milner slips a lovely disguised pass behind the Arsenal defence for Keita, who takes a heavy touch but forces a corner out of Arsenal. Oxlade-Chamberlain is subjected to an earbashing from the away fans as he hooks in a corner to the near post that Arsenal clear.
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31 min: Both defences look likely to be breached a few more times before the night is out. They look far from assured. Elliott crosses to Brewster, who does well to flick a header at goal having sneaked between Mustafi and Holding.
29 min: There is no VAR tonight. Had there been, Torreira’s first goal would have been chalked off. A replay shows that Torreira’s heel was offside when Saka shot at goal. Not that anyone should be complaining. It’s a blessed relief not to have the VAR breaking up the lovely ebb and flow of this game.
Goal! Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal (Martinelli 26)
The Gunners are in front! And it’s Martinelli’s sixth goal of the season! Torreira sends a short free-kick out to Maitland-Niles on the right, who sees his first cross blocked by Milner but then picks up possession again and ghosts past Origi far too easily to drill a low cross at the near post. Van Den Berg makes a block and then Martinelli smashes the ball high into the roof of the net from a yard out.
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23 min: “Given it’s Mizzy Night with all that egg and flour around, let’s ‘ope Arsenal don’t get battered,” honks Chris Brock. It’s not happening at the moment, Chris. This is shaping up to be a ding-dong battle between reserves.
21 min: … but Liverpool win back possession after Ozil’s attempt to split the Liverpool defence with a reverse pass is cut out. The German playmaker is finding a few more pockets of space now and dragging Liverpool out of shape.
20 min: In a surefire sign that this game is going to be a lot of fun, Liverpool race straight back up the other end, where Origi pops a clever pass inside Maitland-Niles towards Brewster who just needs to stick his toe out a few more inches to get a free shot on goal from wight yards. Arsenal break …
Goal! Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal (Torreira 19)
Arsenal are level! It came after Martinelli battled gamely down the left and squared to Saka, who forced a smart save out of Kelleher, but from the rebound Torreira tapped home. Liverpool’s defenders appeal for offside but he was just level. Game on!
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15 min: It appears I’ve been up to mischief with my Mizzy Night missive. “Oh Gregg... you trample on Yorkshire culture,” sighs Rebecca Smith. “Mischief night is the 4 November! Celebrated for when Guy Fawkes (one of Yorkshire’s own) and crew were plotting their mischief for parliament. I have fond memories of putting black treacle on doorknobs in Leeds in the late ‘70s. I have never commented on the live blog before, but couldn’t let this pass.” Fair enough Rebecca. So Yorkshire is right and everywhere else is wrong or just importing American culture? Maitland-Niles has just zipped a cross into the near-post that cause mild panic in the Liverpool ranks but Van Den Berg cleared eventually.
13 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain pings a lovely cross-field pass to Origi, on the left. The forward takes a touch, and lofts a neat ball to the back post, that Arsenal defend well.
12 min: Bellerin has had a few decent bursts down the right hand-side for Arsenal, where Maitland-Niles also looks determined to make a point but Milner will be a tough opponent to get past on that side, assisted by Keita. It may be on the left, where Saka is up against Williams, where Arsenal might find some joy.
9 min: Liverpool are enjoying the better of the possession and continue to look the sharper side. Lallana scoops a lovely ball over the Arsenal defence that Oxlade-Chamberlain fails to control when he had only the keeper to beat.
7 min: If you’re looking for mitigating circumstances, I suppose you could say that Brewster was lurking behind Mustafi, but it was a clumsy attempt to clear with his right foot, a kick and a miss that meant the ball clattered his left knee and went in at Martinez’s near post.
Goal! Liverpool 1-0 Arsenal (Mustafi OG 5)
Oh Arsenal! Williams plays a simple ball down the line to Oxlade-Chamberlain, who plays a low cross to the near-post that Mustafi puts into his own net. He slid in and lost all control when he could have stayed on his feet.
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4 min: Keita does a double-stepover and pops the ball off to Origi inside him. The striker finds Elliott outside him. Elliott cuts inside and spots the top corner, but his curled effort is well over. Youthful exuberance? Worth a pop though.
3min: Origi stretches his legs down the left but Maitland-Niles sticks gamely to his task and does well to nick the ball off the Liverpool forward and clear up field. Maitland-Niles had a nightmare in the Europa League recently and was hauled off at half-time against Vitoria. Howe he could do with a good game to get it out of his system.
Peep!
1 min: We’re under way. Liverpool haven’t won a home League Cup tie since Ben Woodburn became Liverpool’s youngest ever scorer in the 2-0 win over Leeds in November 2016. Harvey Elliott will be hoping to break that record tonight.
Is that You’ll Never Walk Alone I can hear? I think it is, which means that the teams are out on the Anfield turf on a chilly evening on Merseyside. Meanwhile, Ian Copestake isn’t at the match tonight – and he should be. Blame the trains! “There may be some gaps at Anfield (in the crowd, I mean) as most trains to Liverpool (including the one I was meant to be on) were cancelled. Like the two teams I should have taken a coach!” Ah well, stick with me Ian. I’ll do my best. or go the pub. Yeah, go the pub.
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And there’s more pre-match chat: “There are some really unsavory (or, if you insist, unsavoury) elements associated with big time professional football, from greed to racism to corruption, it’s enough to make me feel quite depressed on occasion,” writes JR in Illinois. “I can’t stop following football of course because if I did that I wouldn’t be able to get all the references in David Squires’ cartoons.” Spare a thought for me JR – I’m often the sorry fella who has to try to explain his references to the Guardian’s lawyer.
@GreggBakowski Amazing how our Reds have become so deep, so quickly. The B unit midfield of Ox, Lallana and Keita would start for, what, 17 EPL teams? Looking for to seeing the kids frolic about too.
— Hubert O'Hearn (@BTBReviews) October 30, 2019
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“It’s Mizzy Night in Liverpool? Granit Xhaka must be kicking himself,” honks Peter Oh.
Ian Copestake responds to Brand Dwonch: “Liverpool conquered England a long time ago. They got their very own perch out of it.”
Unai Emery has just spoken on Sky. He didn’t say much of note because he never really does. He swerved a question about Granit Xhaka and just said his team is focused on this game because the League is a good competition. Jürgen Klopp also spoke and confirmed that he took the decision long ago that he would make wholesale changes for the League Cup to rest his regulars. “We have to show them our faith,” he said. He also said that 18-year-old Neco Williams has been handed his debut because in the past four weeks he has really impressed him.
You may or may not know, but it’s “Mizzy Night” (Mischief Night) in Liverpool this evening, which is generally a big excuse for wild kids to cause chaos with eggs, flour, or whatever else they can get their hands on. There’ll be a few fans with stained coats in Anfield tonight. It’s like Halloween, without the innocent fun – all trick and no treat. I believe Mischief Night is also “celebrated” in other parts of the north of England under different names and in the United States. If you do get egged or have a close escape tonight, be sure to let me know. I won’t laugh. I promise.
Pre-match chatzone
“Have to say, I think Liverpool would be wise to sack this cup off,” writes Andrew Tuohy. “Especially,with the pointless World Club Championship coming up to put further strain on their scheduling. Worked last season losing to Wolves. See no reason not to repeat the same tactic.” I think Wolves was the FA Cup Andrew, but I take your point. I do think that providing Klopp plays a load of youngsters, he’s not adversely affecting his first XI, though it might upset the rhythm in training a little.
“Although the presence of the likes of Milner gives a seasoned touch to the Liverpool starting XI, thanks to the inclusion of Brewster and mates, it’s definitely a punky selection,” whoops Peter Oh.
“Even with Liverpool’s other commitments this season, Klopp has to be focused on silverware,” reasons Brandon Dwonch. “Klopp and Liverpool are in a window to dominate Europe but they first have to conquer England. Klopp will start youngsters but if they go down he will bring in the big guns.” That bench isn’t exactly stacked with “big guns” Brandon, unless you have a very high opinion of Curtis Jones.
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Liverpool’s captain for the night, James Milner, was speaking to our very own Donald McRae this week. Turns out, like most football fans everywhere, he’s not a fan of VAR.
So, Jürgen Klopp makes 11 changes from the win over Spurs on Sunday, including four teenagers with 18-year-old Neco Williams making his first-team debut. Among the other young whelps, Harvey Elliott, at 16 years and 209 days, will become the youngest player to appear for the club at Anfield, while Rhian Brewster and Sepp Van Den Berg make their Anfield debuts too. Joe Gomez, James Milner and midfielders Adam Lallana, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain add a bit of experience.
For Arsenal, Mesut Özil makes only his third appearance of the season - and his first since 24 September. He’s not been seen in a matchday squad since his outing in the last round against Nottingham Forest but is one of 11 changes. Unai Emery has selected six players – excluding Özil – who could be considered first-team regulars, including Lucas Torreira, Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles. And it’s Hector Bellerin, not Özil (as had been rumoured), who captains the side. Well, someone’s got to.
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Team news
Liverpool: Kelleher, Williams, Gomez. Van Den Berg, Milner, lallana, Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Elliott, Origi, Brewster. Subs: Adrian, Jones, Kane, Larouci, Chirivella, Clarkson, Koumetio.
Arsenal: Martínez, Bellerin, Holding, Mustafi, Kolasinac, Torreira, Willock, Maitland-Niles, Özil, Saka, Martinelli. Subs: Macey, Sokratis, Tierney, Guendouzi, Ceballos, Pepe, Lacazette.
Referee: Andre Marriner.
Preamble
Evening. It’s cards-on-the-table time – it’s hard to predict what might happen at Anfield this evening. That’s not a bad thing, because so much of modern football is too easy to predict. We can expect two vastly changed teams, with Liverpool perhaps more likely to field the most inexperienced XI, given their commitments in the Premier League and Europe, not to mention the Club World Cup in December. As for Unai Emery, the pressure is on at Arsenal, and even though he will not want to field a full-strength team, he might be minded to name a reasonably strong side to get a win on the board and keep open the prospect of some silverware down the line. With the beef between Granit Xhaka and Arsenal fans dominating headlines in the buildup to this game, Emery is acutely aware that Arsenal’s season is already shaping up to be a turbulent one.
Emery needs a response from his Arsenal team after the draw at home against Crystal Palace, even if the XI players who provide it are not regulars. As for Jürgen Klopp, as much as this competition is probably the lowest on his list of priorities this season, it still offers him the chance to give fringe Liverpool players a run out and give him an idea who might be first in line to come in when he has to rotate over the busy festive period. One person we should see this evening, is Mesut Özil, who is expected to captain Arsenal while Xhaka continues to let off steam. While we wait for team news, see if you can spot him in David Squires’s latest bit of brilliant doodling.
For some reason, the match at Anfield kicks off at 7.30pm GMT. Well, it is a school night and I’m not complaining.
