Arteta speaks!
Read Paul Wilson’s match report
Quarter-final draw
Stoke v Tottenham Hotspur
Brentford v Newcastle
Arsenal v Manchester City
Everton v Manchester United
Ties to be played in week commencing December 21
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The draw for the next round is imminent ...
Klopp on Shaqiri’s absence: “It’s a time of the year where some things happen in the background so we have to leave some people out.” That’s as strong a hint as you can get that Shaqiri is bound for a new club.
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Klopp’s reaction: “If there would have been a winner inside the 90 minutes, it probably should have been us. But we’re not in dreamland, you have to score and we didn’t do that ... We mixed up the team but it was a proper performance with a lot of the things we want to see when you wear this shirt. There were some really good individual performances.”
Leno is asked whether he ever feared he might slip down the pecking order at Arsenal after Emi Martinez performed so well in his absence. He replies: “No, I never feared that. The club always gave me the feeling that I was the No1 and I will always be the No1. My job is to prove it every week and I think I did again.”
Bernd Leno's reaction
“It was a very tough game. I think we made a few changes but I think you could see our intention to win this game. Of course it’s only the Carabao Cup but we wanted to go through because it’s a chance to win another trophy.”
Full-time: Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal (4-5 on pens)
Arteta’s cup success continues as his team prevail in a terrible game. They showed very little attacking quality in the 90 minutes but took the game to a shootout thanks to some solid defending and a couple of decent saves by Leno.
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Willock ‘s shot creeps under Adrian and into the net. Arsenal have won! Liverpool 4-5 Arsenal
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Wilson is denied by Leno! Liverpool 4-4 Arsenal
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Pépé sends Adrian the wrong to send the shootout into sudden death Liverpool 4-4 Arsenal
Jones takes a short run up and pings a shot into the bottom corner Liverpool 4-3 Arsenal
Maitland-Niles strokes it down the middle and into the net Liverpool 3-3 Arsenal
Origi’s shot is saved by Leno in an almost exact replica of Elneny’s Liverpool 3-2 Arsenal
Elneny’s shot is saved by Adrian Liverpool 3-2 Arsenal
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Minamino scores Liverpool 3-2 Arsenal
Soares places it into the corner even though Adrian went the right way Liverpool 2-2 Arsenal
Wijnaldum sidefoots the ball into the top corner Liverpool 2-1 Arsenal
Lacazette drives into the bottom corner while Adrians dives the other way Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal
Milner sends the keeper the wrong way. Liverpool 1-0 Arsenal
Liverpool will take the first penalty.
“Has Michelle Peters-Jones’s dentist appointment gone to penalties as well?” wonders Peter Oh.
Full-time: penalty shootout pending ...
All things considered, that was a harrowing game. Arsenal were well organised but uninspired. Liverpool were slightly better without approaching interesting.
90+2 min: Milner slides in to dispossess an attacker in the box. He wins the ball and then his arm brushes against it as his momentum sends him skidding along the grass. Arsenal howl for a penalty, but the ref waves their protests away and there is no VAR to get involved.
90+1 min: Milner’s inswinger is cleared at the near post by Maitland-Niles.
90 min: Corner to Liverpool. One last chance to settle this before a shootout?
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88 min: Arsenal’s midfield has been lamentable today. So Arsenal fans may be concerned to hear reports that PSG have decided to make an attempt to prise their long-term target Houssem Aouar from Lyon.
86 min: Arsenal substitution: Maitland-Niles on, Saka off.
85 min: Snappy interplay by Liverpool, until Neco Williams ignores well placed teammates and tries to send a swirler into the net from 25 yards. Easy save for Leno.
84 min: Fine tackle by Neco Williams, who kept his eye on the ball has Pépé tried to sell him lollipops.
82 min: Arsenal substitution: Lacazette on, Nketiah off. Can the Frenchman atone for his costly miss here on Monday?
81 min: Good tackle by Saka to cut out a return pass towards Neco Williams, at the expense of a corner.
79 min: In a break from Arsenal’s new convention, Leno pumps a goalkick long. Liverpool win it back immediately.
77 min: Nketiah heads a couple of yards wide from near the penalty spot.
75 min: Liverpool substitution: Wijnaldum on, Jota off.
74 min: Wilson earns a yellow card with the sort of cynical, sabotaging foul on half-way that should be punished with a spotkick.
72 min: Grujic has been Liverpool’s best midfielder today, even if his latest shot goes nowhere near the goal.
70 min: A well worked corner by Arsenal, then a beautiful cross from the left by Pépé. Holding gets a meaty header on it from six yards, but Adrian reacts well to bat it away with both hands!
70 min: Arsenal go forward! Soares picks out a nice cross from the right. Saka takes it down ... but can’t get off a shot because Neco Williams rushes in to poke the ball away from him
68 min: Arsenal substitutions: Elneny on, Ceballos off.
66 min: Willock! I’ve just spotted him (in an offside position). I’d forgotten he was one the pitch.
64 min: Leno has to come to the rescue again, making a spectacular - perhaps even ostentatious - save from Grujic’s looping header. The Arsenal keeper has been very busy, though none of his saves have been outstanding.
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63 min: Jota collects a long iagona pass from Minamino, taking it down on his chest before jumping to keep his shot down. Leno makes another save, palming it away for a corner!
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61 min: Liverpool substitutions: Origi and Gomez on, Salah and Van Dijk off.
60 min: Wilson interferes with an attempted clearance by an Arsenal defender, making the ball break to Grujic, who spanks a first-time shot towards goal from 2 yards. Leno gets down well again to push it away.
57 min: As Liverpool start to chug into gear, Arsenal remain a largely dormant attacking force.
56 min: Jota injects a bit of dash into an attack and then darts into the box and tries a David Narey-style drive into the far corner. It takes a nick off a defender and flies just wide!
54 min: Jones curses himself after overhitting a simple pass intended for Neco Williams.
52 min: Milner delivers a corner from the right. It’s an outswinger way beyond the back post. Grujic heads it back into the danger zone, where Van Dijk diverts it towards goals. Leno dives to his right to push it away!
51 min: Xhaka booked pulling back Grujic as Liverpool tried to break.
48 min: Pépé has been disappointing so far but he hasn’t hid. And a moment ago he produced a nice shuffle to create space for a useful cross, which Adrian grabbed under no pressure.
46 min: Holding catches Jota with his forearm as the pair challenge for a header. Freekick to Liverpool wide on the left. Wilson curls it towards the penalty spot. Grujic donks a header over the bar.
46 min: No changes during the interval. So Van Dijk and Salah are back out for another half.
“Re: Michelle Peters-Jones’ ‘uppity hopes’ [42 min], as a fellow Gooner I can tell you she *really* should know the drill by now,” sighs Grant Tennille.
Half-time: Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal
Minamino came within an inch of opening the scoring in the final seconds of a half in which nothing else of note happened.
45+1 min: Action! Leno plunges to his left to palm away Jota’s header from the corner of the six-yard box. It flies out to Minamino who tries to reroute it back into the goal from four yards with his left foot ... but it crashes out off the crossbar!
45 min: Milner chips the freekick into the six-yard box, where Gabriel heads it away.
44 min: Liverpool want a penalty after Ceballos tripped Jota ... but the referee rules that the foul took place just outside the box, to the right. Liverpool will have to make do with a freekick from a difficult shooting angle.
42 min: Saka is caught offside. “I am at the dentist and watching the game,” reveals Mchelle Peters-Jones. “Hopefully the dentist won’t finish up my filling early, which means I’ll have to use data to finish out the game instead of piggybacking on his excellent wifi. In the meantime, this Arsenal side is giving me all sorts of uppity hopes. But this is what I also say every year.” Are you under anaesthetic?
40 min: This terrible match desperately needs someone to run off to the toilet.
38 min: Jones amuses himself by performing a rabona cross. But he doesn’t put quite enough levity on it, so it fails to beat the first man.
36 min: I’m not saying this match is becoming almost unbearably boring, but even the fake fans have gone very quiet. they’re probably on their fake phones reading fake news.
34 min: Jones unloads one from the corner of the box. It bounces just before Leno, who holds it without any trouble.
32 min: Jones and Salah conspire down the right and briefly threaten to penetrate the visiting defence, but Arsenal tighten up smartly to slow Liverpool down and eventually repel them.
30 min: Despite a bright enough opening, the first half hour has been generally dreary.
28 min: Salah receives the ball just inside the Arsenal half in a central position. Then he dabs a useful ball towards Jota, but Holding strains to head it clear.
26 min: Xhaka releases Saka with lovely pass down the left. The winger delivers a nice cross towards Nketiah, but Rhys Williams dives in to head clear.
24 min: The game is going through a lull. “Was Christopher Lee an Arsenal fan and is their away kit a homage to his Dracula?” wonders Tom Gould. I don’t know about his football allegiances but I know Lee was a big fan of heavy metal - and even made an epic contribution to the genre - so perhaps he approves of Klopp’s style?
20 min: Milner improvises quickly to poke the ball away from Willock after a hefty touch in the centre circle by Van Dijk.
18 min: Jota tries to race past Holding down the left but the defender does well to unsettle him, and a heavy touch gives Arsenal a throw-in.
15 min: Minamino booked for a late tackle on Saka.
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14 min: Arsenal try to tip-tap their way out from the back and make it about 10 yards out of their box before they are engulfed by men in red.
12 min: Jota skews a shot wide from eight yards after clever work on the left by Jones and Grujic. The ball came at Jota very fast and he just couldn’t adjust his foot quickly enough to guide the shot on target.
11 min: Wilson pngs over an in-winging corner . Gabriel beats van Dijk to it at the near post and heads it out for another one, which Leno punches to safety.
8 min: A dangerous attack by Arsenal! They got Pepe free down the left wing and he drove to the byline before pulling back to a teammate, who cleverly eschewed the shot and pass it sideways to Nketiah. Adrian did superbly to get out quickly to the forward and then tip the ball away as Nketiah tried to take it around him.
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6 min: Salah plays a risky pass across the face of his own box and is relieved to see Van Dijk welly it clear before Nketiah can intercept.
4 min: Xhaka almost dispossesses Grujic near half-way but the youngster keeps his cool and holds off the Arsenal captain before recycling possession.
3 min: Liverpool zip the ball around well, with Grujic and Neco Williams getting some nice, confident early touches.
2 min: It’s already clear that Liverpool intend pressing as demonically as their first team did on Monday, and Arsenal will try to play their way through it again.
1 min: The game begins with a successfully completed kickoff by Arsenal.
Klack, klack, klack. The players stroll down the tunnel and out on the the Anfield lawn. Liverpool are clad in their familiar red; Arsenal are wearing that bathroom tile-inspired away kit.
The managers pre-match thoughts
Arteta: “We reviewed [Monday’s] game and there are thing we have to adjust. Most importantly, we know the levels you have to be at individually and collectively to come here and compete.”
Klopp: “We’ve made some changes but we’ve kept some boys in. They look really good from a physical point of view. Mo looks really good. Virg, we will make the change again at half-time if we can.”
“I don’t really care what happens in this game, there’s no way there’s going to be a goal as good as the one Saïd Benrahma scored about 10 minutes ago against Fulham,” hollers JR from Illinois. “You should stop what you’re doing and find a way to watch it. Everyone should.” Brentford have just beaten Fulham 3-0. Perhaps Tony Khan will try to buy Benrahma? Someone certainly should.
“Evening Paul, do we know what constitutes handball for tonight’s festivities?” asks Gary Byrne. No ned to worry about that, Gary, I hear both teams will be wearing club-issue straitjackets.
“I think it will be very interesting to see Minamino playing in the role that Firmino has cemented himself into in this Liverpool team,” reckons Mike Gleeson. “Harry Wilson seemingly playing at centre midfield is also a curious decision, but it seems to be the only place for him in this Liverpool team especially with the signing of Diogo Jota.” Indeed, Jota could also play that Firmino role.
If you’re hoping to be pleasured aurally today, you might want to get a load of this:
“Still no William Saliba!” fumes Will Butler. “What’s the point in spending so much money on a player if you’re never going to use him?” Steady on there, Will. Just because he hasn’t featured in the first few weeks of the season doesn’t mean he’s never going to be used. Don’t forget he’s only 19 and is arriving in a new league and country off the back off an iffy last season with Saint Etienne - it’s sensible to give him time to prepare, on the training ground and elsewhere, before pitching him into action. No sense in deploying him before he’s ready so that everyone can write him off as a bad buy.
“Salah and Van Dijk?” gasps Patrick Crumlish. “Interesting. Does Virg ever get a rest? That Champions League schedule is going to be intense.” It’s curious alright, though I imagine Van Dijk will only play the first half, like at Lincoln. Same for Salah, most likely.
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“Still no sign of Rhian Brewster, even on the bench,” notes Robert Lin. “I haven’t heard any real news about a transfer either for a week or so. What’s going on? Big fall-out with Klopp?” The signs are that he will leave the club before the closure of the transfer window, either on loan or permanently. But that would be for financial and developmental reasons rather than because of any fall out; indeed, word is that Liverpool still rate him so highly that they would like a buy-back clause to be included if they were to sell him.
Teams
Jürgen Klopp has made plenty of changes to the sides that started Monday’s Premier League victory but, for the second round in a row, Virgil Van Dijk is in the XI for this competition. Mohamed Salah also starts, with Jota and Minamino completing a slick-looking attack. There’s a pair of teenages Williamses in defence in the form of Rhys and Neco. As for Arsenal, Gabriel comes into central defence, Cedric Soares gets his first start of the season and Mesut Ozil may be considering signing up for pottery night classes.
Liverpool: Adrian; N Williams, R Williams, Van Dijk, Milner; Grujic, Jones, Wilson; Minamino, Jota, Salah,
Subs: Kelleher, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Gomez, Robertson, Origi, Elliot
Arsenal: Leno; Soares, Gabriel, Holding, Kolasinac; Willock, Ceballos, Xhaka; Pépé, Nkeitah, Saka
Subs: Runarsson, David Luiz, Tierney, Elneny, Maitland-Niles, Nelson, Lacazette
Referee: K Friend
Preamble
Monday’s Premier League joust between these two teams was so good that no one should complain about the sides doing it again just three days later. Except, of course, they are not really going to be the same sides, as both managers are likely to make many changes. But the style and spirit should remain the same, at least, and we are easily amused in these terrible times. So here we are now, Liverpool and Arsenal, entertain us!
Mikel Arteta actually fielded a pretty strong team in the last round, an impressive win at Leicester. Top performers that day included Eddie Nkettiah, Reiss Nelson and Bukayo Saka, who may get a chance to impress again, which would be fitting on the day Saka was summoned to the England squad. While Arsenal were winning at the King Power, Liverpool were laying waste to Lincoln City, with Takumi Minamino and Curtis Jones among the many goalscorers. We await today’s lineup, then, with the confidence that even if each manager omits their top guns, there will be plenty of exciting talent in action.
