We’re into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals after beating Chelsea 6-5 on penalties at Anfield last night, with Joe Gomez converting our eighth penalty and Wesley Fofana blazing Chelsea’s final attempt into the Kop. It finished 1-1 after 90 minutes, with both goals coming from the spot.
Next up in this competition is a home tie against Andoni Iraola’s old club Bournemouth, which he admitted was the one draw he didn’t want. Before that, Arsenal come to Anfield on Sunday.
Shootout drama at Anfield
Morgan Rogers put Chelsea ahead with a 40th-minute penalty after Ryan Gravenberch fouled Moisés Caicedo, but we were level three minutes later when Fofana handled following a corner and Cody Gakpo drilled the spot-kick home.
There was a familiar feel to the opposition, too, with former Reds Xabi Alonso in the Chelsea dugout and Jordan Henderson in their midfield.
Giorgi Mamardashvili made important saves from Rogers and substitute Marco Palestra in the second half, and Mike Penders denied Ronald Araújo’s close-range header and a deflected Bradley Barcola effort at the other end.
In the shootout, Kostas Tsimikas fired over and Penders saved from Gravenberch, while Valentín Barco hit the post for Chelsea. Mamardashvili then saved from Chelsea debutant Emmanuel Emegha, Gomez smashed our eighth penalty into the top corner, and Fofana fired over to send us through.
Gomez finally got to see one of his efforts hit the net for Liverpool, although shootout penalties don’t count towards official goalscoring records. He’s still waiting for his first senior goal. Speaking to ITV, he admitted he had been anticipating the possibility of taking a penalty as the shootout approached and was delighted to convert.
Iraola: the only team I didn’t want
“Honestly, I was talking before the draw and I said, ‘The only team I don’t want is Bournemouth…’ For me, it’s special. They know me very well, they are playing very well lately, in a good moment,” Iraola said. The tie will be played in the week beginning 14 December, with the date to be confirmed.
He also praised Trey Nyoni, who was voted our Player of the Match by supporters on the club website: “I think he has done very well. Really well. It’s good for the young players especially to live these experiences in cup competitions, where if you lose you are out.”
Team news
Iraola made seven changes, with only Araújo, Gakpo, Gravenberch and Virgil van Dijk keeping their places from the Brighton win. Florian Wirtz came off the bench on 58 minutes after his ankle scare, and Alexis Mac Allister and Alexander Isak came on late.
Dominik Szoboszlai and Victor Muñoz were again absent, and their availability for Sunday’s meeting with Arsenal remains uncertain. Jeremie Frimpong remains out with a muscle problem, and Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitiké and Giovanni Leoni are long-term absentees.
Transfers
Lamine Camara: newspaper reports say we’ve made contact with the Monaco midfielder’s camp and asked to be kept informed ahead of January, with Chelsea now seen as frontrunners for Alex Scott. Camara was hours away from joining Chelsea for £47m on deadline day before Monaco pulled the plug. There’s no bid. Credibility: Low until independently corroborated.
We haven’t seen any significant new Liverpool contract, ownership, FSG or sporting-director developments that warrant inclusion in this morning’s briefing.
Fixtures (UK times)
Sunday 1 November: Liverpool v Arsenal, Premier League, 4.30pm (Sky Sports)
Wednesday 4 November: Fenerbahçe v Liverpool, Champions League, 5.45pm
Week beginning 14 December: Liverpool v Bournemouth, Carabao Cup quarter-final (date and time to be confirmed)
All kick-off times are GMT.
