Liverpool were once again forced to battle back from a goal behind to see off Leicester in what was their fourth 3-1 win in a row.
An early Kasey McAteer strike gave the Reds work to do but it was a dominant display thereafter and the Foxes found themselves under pressure throughout.
Goals from Cody Gakpo, Dominik Szoboszlai and Diogo Jota were enough to seal a place in the fourth round, where a trip to Bournemouth awaits in a month’s time.
Here, Adam Beattie (@beatts94) and Aaron Cutler (@Aaron_cutler) break down a satisfactory night at Anfield.
Another much-changed side as expected, would you have made any tweaks to that lineup?
AARON: I don’t think so, no. We’re in the rare position of having a relatively clean bill of health and when almost every player is fit you realise the strength in depth we have.
With that in mind, the Europa League and League Cup present an ideal opportunity to give players rhythm.
While the likes of Kelleher, Quansah, Tsimikas and Endo are clearly reserves, everybody else who started last night can see a route into the first team, be that now or in the future.
This not only creates healthy competition but the kind of desire we saw on show last night. There was so much to enjoy about the performance.
ADAM: I stopped questioning the manager’s team selections in cup competitions a long time ago.
He showed in 2021/22 that he knows what he’s doing when he isn’t presented with horrible fixtures and has to play games on different continents on successive days!
I would’ve liked to have seen a bit more of Stefan Bajcetic, but I appreciate he is easing his way back in after a terrible injury and there are plenty more opportunities for him around the corner.
The depth we’ve got in the senior squad doesn’t necessarily lend itself to the academy players getting a go, so it was nice to see Luke Chambers come on at the end, albeit for a small cameo.
Not many saw Jones at right-back coming! How impressed were you with his performance?
ADAM: I was surprised to see him there, but perhaps I shouldn’t have been!
The hybrid role allows you to be creative and drive forward with purpose, something we’ve already seen on numerous occasions that he is capable of.
He seemed to be relishing having the armband on, as you’d expect from a young lad leaving his dream there at Anfield. It was class to see.
AARON: I thought Curtis fared just fine. Liverpool no longer play with a conventional right back and this hybrid role demands just as much going forward as it does in the other direction.
Aside from a couple of counter-attacks, he had little to do when facing his own goal which allowed him to step into midfield and really squeeze the play.
As always, he recycled the ball well and ensured we probed to good effect.
Yes, he was guilty of overplaying by his own corner flag towards the end of the game but that’s simply his style. If you start a player of his nature in that role that’s the price of admission.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see further midfielders deployed here as the season progresses as the manager is clearly looking for internal solutions to cover Trent.
Who else stood out for you?
ADAM: I thought Jarrell Quansah showed really promising signs again, I’m excited to see what level of player he can become.
There will be people who won’t want to hear it, but we could be starting to see why the club didn’t pull the trigger on a new centre-back in the summer.
Jota and Gakpo put in solid claims for a start against Tottenham and Szoboszlai was just Szoboszlai when he came on, I’ve not got much more to add on him that hasn’t already been said!
Ryan Gravenberch is demonstrating early signs of what he is about which is good to see. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not he drops into the No. 6 role in the coming weeks.
AARON: I was encouraged by Endo’s performance, particularly after the interval.
He appeared off the pace in the first half but gradually played himself into the game. Once he’d adjusted to the tempo he began moving the ball quicker and winning challenges.
Elsewhere, Cody Gakpo reminded everybody of his quality. Darwin Nunez has stolen the headlines in recent weeks but the way the Dutchman protects the ball is simply brilliant and allows us to set up differently for certain opponents.
Finally, Quansah was a relative unknown at the start of pre-season but has shown maturity beyond his years.
If he continues to progress the manager deserves credit for putting his faith in the youngster rather than delving into the transfer market for a costly fifth choice as Adam alluded to.
Finally, do you fancy us to go all the way?
AARON: I’d certainly like us to have a real tilt at it.
The draws up to now mean some big sides have already exited the competition, opening up a route to Wembley.
Bournemouth away won’t be easy but you’d back the side that started last night to get the job done. After that, who knows?
ADAM: Absolutely! The draw could open up nicely for us with Man City already out and a number of the Premier League teams getting drawn against each other as Aaron said.
The Europa League gives us a rare opportunity for these players to build up familiarity and I think we’ll see a similar lineup against Bournemouth, fitness permitting.
We fell back in love with the League Cup as a club in 2022 and you could see with the atmosphere against Leicester that the fans are keen to see us have another crack.
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