Since Jurgen Klopp took over as Liverpool manager in October 2015, 29 players have made their Reds debut in the League Cup, with another 13 handed their first starts in the tournament.
From that total, 34 of those players started their Liverpool careers in some shape or form in the club’s academy, while Klopp has called upon the services of a further 10 academy graduates across his 25 League Cup matches to date. Granted, the eight youngsters handed debuts by Neil Critchley against Aston Villa in December 2019, with the first team away on FIFA Club World Cup duty, skewers the figures slightly, but there is no escaping how important the League Cup has been for the Reds’ next generation.
Klopp was at it again on Wednesday night as Liverpool’s League Cup defence got underway against Derby County, handing out debuts to Layton Stewart and Ben Doak while Calvin Ramsay, Stefan Bajcetic, Bobby Clark and Melkamu Frauendorf all made their first starts in Red.
