Reds survive late surge to reach Carabao Cup semis

After a full and imposing pre-season under his belt, Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott had lofty ambitions this season. Could he crack a regular starting spot? The diminutive left-footed playmaker, signed amid so much promise from Fulham five years ago, certainly would not have anticipated his first start of the season coming in mid-December. But on a torrential night on the south coast, Elliott shone brightest as the Carabao Cup holders, ultimately, sneaked through at Southampton last night.

- KIERAN JACKSON

Elliott, 21, scored the visitor’s second of the night, calmly slotting home with his weaker right foot, and was a figure of composure throughout. When the pace needed slowing, Elliott did so in his roaming midfield-wing role. When it needed speeding up, Elliott found his man, quickly, with a forward pass. In a makeshift Liverpool XI, he was the starring light.

Darwin Nunez had opened the scoring midway through the first-half, seemingly setting the tone for a routine evening’s work for the Premier League leaders. But Cameron Archer’s sumptuous goal and a late Southampton second-half onslaught made Liverpool sweat for their place in the semi-finals and, in the final minutes, Jarrell Quansah was extremely fortunate to not see red for hauling down Mateus Fernandes as the final man, just outside the penalty area.

In the end though for Arne Slot, watching on behind TalkSport commentator Scott Minto in the stands at St Mary’s due to his one-match touchline ban, it was a satisfactory night’s work. Star players were rested and chances for fringe players were taken. In fact, the Dutch coach may have even been a tad relieved, in avoiding the treacherous swirling rain pitchside.

His long-term assistant Sipke Hulshoff manned the technical area as the Reds made eight changes, leaving the likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch out of the squad. A calculated gamble by Slot, given Southampton’s current predicament, but that one that duly paid off.