A weakened Liverpool side scraped past Southampton and into the Carabao Cup semi-finals courtesy of a 2-1 win at St Mary’s.
Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott put Liverpool in control with a pair of first-half goals. But just when the Saints were fearing another hiding, they rallied in the second period, with Cameron Archer’s powerful finish inspiring a flurry of late chances.
The Reds stood firm, however, and Express Sport takes you through how each of them performed on the south coast…
A small handful of telling contributions, including getting a vital glove on a corner and saving a couple of Southampton efforts. Not a whole lot he could do about Archer’s strike.
Trent Alexander-Arnold: 7 (Chiesa, 45)
Did not feature out wide as much as he normally does but showed his quality with a brilliant low cross for Alexis Mac Allister, which almost resulted in a goal.
Jarell Quansah: 5
Misplaced a pass straight into the path of Tyler Dibling. Did not do enough to stop Archer pulling one back for the hosts.
Wataru Endo: 7
Tough assignment in a hybrid role between a centre-back and a defensive midfielder. A bit untidy on the ball but intelligent and hard-working off it, and his crunching tackles gave the travelling fans something to sink their teeth into.
Joe Gomez: 7 (Tsimikas, 45)
Did well in a tough one-v-one battle against Saints danger man Dibling.
Trey Nyoni: 6 (Danns, 86)
A great night of experience for the 17-year-old on his first senior start, but did not do a whole lot to affect the game.
Tyler Morton: 5
Doubled up on Archer along with Quansah but they still couldn’t stop him scoring. Looked a tad lightweight in the middle of the park, and was moved to right-back in the second half.
Harvey Elliott: 8 (booked)
Quiet in the opening stages but took his goal brilliantly – even with the benefit of a slight nick on its way past Alex McCarthy. By the end of the night it was the kind of performance that shows Arne Slot he is ready for more responsibility whenever the opportunity crops up.
Alexis Mac Allister: 6 (McConnell, 63)
Not his most effective display. Low shot forced McCarthy into a great save but overhit a corner which sailed all the way through later in the game.
Cody Gakpo: 8 (Jota, 63)
Dangerous and adventurous in attack. Southampton did not quite know how to deal with him cutting in from the left. Great one-two and pass to set up Elliott for Liverpool’s second goal.
Darwin Nunez: 6
Such a powerful runner but he can be so wayward with his final ball. Spoiled a Liverpool counter-attack with a poor choice of pass but took his goal well after running off the shoulder.
SUBS
Kostas Tsimikas: 6
Helped to withstand the Southampton barrage.
Federico Chiesa: 7
Nobody can deny the energy he brings, even if the goals and assists are yet to come. Nearly put the game to bed in stoppage time.
Diogo Jota: 6
Did not get much scope to stamp his authority as Southampton were well on top in the closing stages of the game.
James McConnell: 5
Booked for a bad challenge after coming on for his first appearance under Slot.
Jayden Danns: N/A
A late addition.
