Read Daniel Taylor's match report ...
Our chief football correspondent braved the elements at Anfield to bring you this on-the-whistle report. Read on ...
Hats off to Claude Puel: Two of the Southampton manager’s three substitutes combined to score Southampton’s winner tonight. Josh Sims galloped clear of his own penalty area into Liverpool territory and played the ball right to Shane Long, who expertly dispatched the ball into bottom left-hand corner.
Interesting fact: Southampton are the first team in history to reach the final of the League Cup without conceding a goal and have done so the hard way, beating four Premier League teams - Crystal Palace, Sunderland, Arsenal and Liverpool - on their way to Wembley. They last won a major trophy in 1976, when they were triumphant against Manchester United.
0 - The last time Liverpool failed to score in either leg of a semi-final was in the 1970/71 Fairs Cup v Leeds. Blank.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 25, 2017
Full time at Anfield: Liverpool 0-1 Southampton (Agg: 0-2)
Southampton advance to the League Cup final! They have yet to concede a goal in this season’s tournament and have booked their place in the final against Manchester United or Hull City, who play the second leg of their semi-final tomorrow.
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Liverpool 0-1 Southampton (Agg: 0-2)
90+2 min: Liverpool will be furious with what’s happened here tonight. Replays show that Jack Stephens was incredibly lucky not to concede a penalty for bringing down Divock Origi in the Southampton penalty area. Instead, he conceded a corner, which led to the Southampton counter-attack from which Shane Long scored. He fired a low, diagonal shot past Loris Karius with a minimum of fuss to put the tie beyond Liverpool.
GOAL! Liverpool 0-1 Southampton (Agg:0-2)
Southampton are through to the League Cup final! Attacking on the break from a Liverpool corner, Shane Long fires Southampton into the final of this season’s League Cup.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
90 min: As the clock ticks towards the end of normal time, Liverpool get forward again. In the penalty area, Divock Origi goes down theatrically under a challenge from Jack Stephens and appeals for a penalty, but doesn’t get one. Corner for Liverpool.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
88 min: Trent Alexander-Arnold floats the ball towards the far post, where Jack Stephens misjudges its flight. He rescues the situation by sticking out a boot and putting the ball out of play before Roberto Firmino can get touch in a dangerous position. Southampton get a goal-kick when in fact Liverpool should have got a corner.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
86 min: Time is running out for Liverpool, who need a goal to force extra time. they’ve been toothless in both legs of this semi-final and much of their build-up play in this leg has looked ponderous and lacking in anything resembling precision. Jurgen Klopp shakes things up with a late substitution: Gigi Wijnaldum comes on for Philippe Coutinho.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
83 min: Speaking of untimely slips, Steven Gerrard is in the crowd tonight and is picked out by the camera man as Southampton concede a corner. The ball’s played into the Southampton penalty area, where Shane Long seems lucky not to concede a penalty for hand-ball. He definitely moved arm to ball in his attempt to clear the danger, but a good lawyer could probably convince a jury it made contact with his shoulder. On the touchline, Jurgen Klopp has a frank exchange of views with the fourth official.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
82 min: Sims picks up the ball on the right flank, with Davis providing the pass. The substitute cuts inside, but slips and loses possession.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
80 min: Southampton substitution: Josh Sims on for Nathan Redmond, who is no big rush to leave the field. The 19-year-old is the last of Southampton’s three substitutes.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
78 min: Liverpool substitution: Divock Origi on for Emre Can. Dejan Lovren floats a nine-iron into the Southampton penalty area, where Jack Stephens heads clear.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
77 min: Much Liverpool faff around the fringes of the Southampton penalty area ends with James Milner sending in a cross from the left. Maya Y”oshida heads clear.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
73 min: The clock ticks on, with Liverpool needing a goal to avoid going out of the League Cup. If they fail to score one, I’m fairly sure this will be Jurgen Klopp’s first ever failure to successfully negotiate a Cup semi-final in all his time as a manager.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
72 min: James Milner goes down in the Southampton penalty area after tangling with Cedric, prompting Liverpool fans behind the goal to call for a penalty. None is forthcoming and replays show the denizens of the Kop were chancing their collective arm in calling for one.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
69 min: Now its Emre Can’s turn to larrup the ball out of play while trying to pick out a man on the left touchline. Shades of England v Iceland at Euro 2016 here, if that’s not too harsh a criticism of the way Liverpool have been squandering possession in the past couple of minutes. They’ve failed to score against Southampton on two occasions already this season, in just five matches where they’ve been held scoreless.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
68 min: Now Liverpool win a corner, which is played short to Coutinho. They lose possession when Trent Alexander-Arnold overhits a pass to Lallana on the left touchline and puts the ball out of play.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
66 min: Tadic takes the corner, floating the ball in to the penalty area. Southampton clear.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
65 min: Southampton attack on the counter-attack, with Nathan Redmond on the ball. He picks out Hojbjerg to his right and the substitute wins his team a corner and some much needed respite.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
65 min: The chances are coming thick and fast for Liverpool. Philippe Coutinho misses the latest one, failing to connect properly with a low cross from the right from about 20 yards out.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
64 min: Jordan Henderson curls in a wonderful cross from the left touchline, which Sturridge catches on the volley from the edge of the six yard box but fails to steer on target.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
63 min: Adam Lallana is forced to the sideline for treatment, but is OK to continue. Sturridge plays the ball down the left touchline for the midfielder to chase, but Romeu wins the race for the ball.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
59 min: Inside the Southampton six-yard box, Daniel Sturridge leaps and scissor-kicks the ball over the cross-bar when scoring looked easier. Milner had played the ball across the face of the Southampton goal from the right, it was played back in the direction from which it came and Sturridge blazed over. It was a difficult shot for Sturridge to execute correctly, but he really should have scored.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
58 min: Southampton substitution: James Ward-Prowse off, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg on.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
57 min: James Ward-Prowse goes down injured and in need of treatment after a collision with one of his own team-mates, prompting Daniel Sturridge to pop over to the sideline for a chat with Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
54 min: A brilliant save from Fraser Forster after a hideous error from Fraser Forster! Emre Can fired low and hard from distance and Fraser Forster got down to block his shot. The ball promptly bobbled over the goalkeeper, who was quick to turn and claw it clear before it bounced over the line. Liverpool’s players and supporters appealed for the goal, believing the ball to have crossed the line, but no goal was given. Technology prevailed, as replays showed the ball did not cross the line.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
52 min: Philippe Coutinho skitters across the face of the Southampton penalty area before unleashing a low drive that takes a deflection on its way towards goal. Fraser Forster gets down to collect, although the ball looks as if it was going wide anyway.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
50 min: Maya Yoshida falls awkwardly after contesting a high ball with Dejan Lovren and holds his ribs gingerly before resuming play.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
49 min: The ball’s played long into the Liverpool fail to clear properly and Nathan Redmond is almost teed up for a header on goal from five or six yards out. Karius saves the day for Liverpool.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
48 min: The word around Anfield is that Jay Rodriguez has been forced off with an ankle injury, hence the introduction of Shane Long. Southampton win themselves a free kick on the halfway line, wide on the left, after a Trent Alexander-Arnold foul on Long.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
46 min: Southampton win a corner, which James Ward-Prowse sends across the face of the Liverpool six-yard box and out of play for a Liverpool throw-in.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
46 min: Southampton kick off, with Shane Long on for Jay Rodriguez.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
Half-time: Well, that was a truly awful first half, but Southampton will be happy with how easily they’ve contained a Liverpool side that has dominated possession but struggled to do anything with it. The two best chances of the match have been squandered by Southampton, who will rue their profligacy but remain in the box-seat as far as qualifying for the final is concerned. Here’s hoping for a more entertaining second 45 minutes.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
45 min: Tadic takes the corner short, playing it to Redmond. The ball’s sent into the Liverpool penalty area, half-cleared and James Ward-Prowse drags a shot wide.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
43 min: Davis marauds through the centre for Southampton, loses the ball on the edge of the Liverpool penalty area, gets it back and eventually earns a corner for Southampton.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
41 min: An Alexander-Arnold cross from the right is hooked across the face of the Southampton goal by Emre Can before being cleared.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
39 min: More good work from Nathan Redmond down the left flank, where he’s being given the freedom of Anfield by Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip. He picks out Steven Davis in a good position, but the Southampton midfielder is left holding his head in his hands after blazing high over the bar when he should at the very least have hit the target.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
39 min: Emre Can takes on Ward-Prowse down the right flkank, beats him and tries to get a cross into Roberto Firmino. Southampton clear their lines.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
36 min: Dusan Tadic misses the best chance of the game, shooting low at the onrushing Karius when he should have dinked the ball over him. Karius ended up smothering the ball at his feet. Nathan Redmond had scampered down the left flank and picked out Tadic, only to see his team-mate squander the best of very few scoring opportunities to have presented themselves in this match so far.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
35 min: From an inside left position, Daniel Sturridge chips the ball into the Southampton penalty area, where Jack Stephens heads it clear.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
31 min: Firmino does well to keep the ball in play on the right touchline, before laying it off to Trent Alexander-Arnold, who ... ah, move along. Nothing to see here.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
29 min: Redmond and Bertrand combine well down the left flank for Southampton, before the latter squares the ball for Steven Davis on the edge of the Liverpool penalty area. his low drive is blocked.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
27 min: Liverpool win a free-kick on the inside right, about 40 yards from the Southampton goal. Coutinho stands over the ball, then floats the ball straight into the arms of Fraser Forster. Replays show there was quite a bit of grappling going on in the Southampton penalty area as the ball was in mid-air, but referee Martin Atkinson doesn’t seem to spot any of it.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
24 min: Liverpool continue to dominate possession, but look fairly ponderous on the ball. Alexander-Arnold whips a cross in from the right flank, but Jack Stephens heads clear for Saints.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
22 min: Southampton corner. Tadic’s near post delivery is poor and Liverpool clear. They rampage up the field on the counter-attack but fail to make their numerical advantage on the break count.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
21 min: Southampton win a free-kick, which James Ward-Prowse sends into the Liverpool penalty area. He overhits the ball, which floats too close to Karius.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
19 min: After being teed up by Trent Alexander-Arnold, who had made a good run down the right flank, Roberto Firmino shoots low and hard from the edge of the Southampton penalty area. His effort doesn’t trouble Karius unduly.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
18 min: Dusan Tadic tries to jink his way down the left flank for Southampton, before laying the ball off for Cedric, who overhits his cross. Nathan Redmond scampers after the ball, which ends up in the arms of Loris Karius.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
17 min: A mistake by Southampton defender Jack Stephens gifts Liverpool a corner, from which nothing comes.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
16 min: Ryan Bertrand dawdles on the ball a few yards outside his own penalty area, allowing Adam Lallana to nick the ball off his toe and tee up Daniel Sturridge. He takes the first shot of the game in anger, firing straight at Fraser Forster.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
14 min: Almost quarter of an hour gone and we’ve yet to have a shot on goal from either side. Both teams are patiently sizing each other up, exchanging jabs like a pair of boxers.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
11 min: Coutinho turns creator again, lofting the ball into the Southampton right-back position, where Daniel Sturridge is waiting. The Liverpool striker is unable to control the ball properly and Southampton clear.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
8 min: Picking up the ball in the centre, Philippe Coutinho curls a beautiful pass into the gap between Bertrand and Yoshida for Trent Alexander-Arnold, who had made a good run up theright flank, to chase. There’s a mite too much welly on the ball, which goes out for a goal kick.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
7 min: Cagey stuff so far, but Liverpool are enjoying the lion’s share of possession in these early stages.
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5 min: Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse sends the ball down the inside left channel for Dusan Tadic to chase. Joel Matip cuts out the pass and clears.
Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
4 min: Liverpool advance into the Southampton half, with Dejan Lovren getting booed by the travelling support as he gets his first touch against his former club.
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Liverpool 0-0 Southampton (Agg: 0-1)
2 min: Southampton win a throw-in inside their own half, which Ryan Bertrand takes. Two more throw-ins follow, with Bertrand eventually getting a chance to touch the ball with his foot as he attempts to cross into the Liverpool penalty area. It runs wide before he can wrap his left boot around it. Goal kick for Liverpool.
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Liverpool kick-off against Southampton
1 min: Liverpool kick off and Fraser Forster gets an early touch in the Southampton goal after Daniel Sturridge is forced to retreat from an offside position as the ball is hit long over the top.
Not long now ...
The teams are out on the pitch undergoing the last of the pre-match niceties. Kick-off is just moments away. Liverpool wear their usual home strip, while Southampton line up in black and grey.
Anfield seems full tonight ...
Most of Anfield’s 54,074 seats seem occupied tonight, which by the reckoning of Donald Trump and his mouthpiece Sean Spicer would put the attendance at well over two million people, surely a record for English football’s third most important competition. Here’s hoping they get a good game as reward for braving the elements on a cold night in Liverpool.
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Some pre-match entertainment ...
Some quality gouging here ...
Looooool how sly 😂 pic.twitter.com/JzTYPyI5jB
— Football Fix (@FBFix) January 25, 2017
Team news ...
Liverpool make four changes from the team that lost agaionst Swansea on Saturday6, with Loris Karius lining up in goal, Trent Alexander-Arnold coming in at right-back, Joel Matip taking his place in the heart of Liverpool’s defence and Daniel Sturridge coming into the front three.
There are just two changes to the Southampton team that swatted Leicester aside on Sunday. As expected, Jack Stephens replaces Virgil van Dijk, while Steven Davis has recovered from injury to take his place in midfield.
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Liverpool v Southampton line-ups
Liverpool: Karius, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Lovren, Milner, Can, Henderson, Lallana, Firmino, Sturridge, Coutinho.
Subs: Wijnaldum, Klavan, Moreno, Lucas, Mignolet, Origi, Woodburn.
Southampton: Forster, Cedric, Stephens, Yoshida, Bertrand, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Davis, Tadic, Rodriguez, Redmond.
Subs: Clasie, Long, Martina, Hojbjerg, McQueen, Sims, Lewis.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire)
Greetings, sports fans ...
Southampton travel to Anfield with a one-goal lead following the first leg of their League Cup semi-final, Nathan Redmond having scored the only goal of their meeting at St Mary’s a fortnight ago in a match Saints probably should have won by more.
If they are to maintain or increase their lead, they will have to do so without Virgil van Dijk, who has been ruled out for up to three months with an ankle injury sustained in Southampton’s 3-0 win against Leicester on Sunday. A target for Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool, among other clubs, the Dutch central defender is likely to be sorely missed tonight, not least because Jose Fonte, his one-time partner in the heart of Southampton’s defence, recently left the club for West Ham. Jack Stephens stepped into Van Dijk big boots at the weekend and looks a certainty to fill in again tonight.
“If he has to play this game, I think he will play with good spirit and he’s a good player,” said Southampton manager Claude Puel. “He is an England Under-21 international and he knows about these important games. He has the quality and I have full confidence with Jack. He’s a good defender, he’s intelligent, he can anticipate the action. [He is] very good technically.”
Having won just once in six games in all competitions since the turn of the year, Liverpool go into tonight’s match on the back of an embarrassing weekend defeat at the hands of Swansea City and have Joel Matip available as a starter following concerns over his eligibility and the subsequent, monotonously predictable Fifa faff that came with it. Kick-off is at 8pm (GMT), but we’ll be here with team news as we have it.
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