Faces may change in the technical areas and out on the pitch but the story remains the same for Liverpool and West Ham in the Carabao Cup. It was another sorry tale for the Hammers, routed 5-1 in the competition for the second successive season at Anfield, and a further demonstration of the rich resources bequeathed to Arne Slot. The holders ultimately advanced with ease.
While Liverpool’s head coach utilised the depth of his squad to oversee another hugely encouraging display, the problems increase for his West Ham counterpart Julen Lopetegui. His team threatened in spells but lacked the clinical edge displayed by Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah, Liverpool’s goalscorers on the night they booked a fourth‑round trip to Brighton. They also disintegrated defensively after Edson Álvarez’s deserved red card. Lopetegui’s troubles were not confined to his team. He sustained a calf injury when stamping angrily on the ground after a glaring miss by Crysencio Summerville and left the stadium on crutches.
“We don’t deserve this score,” said David Moyes’s summer replacement. “We were in the match, even better than them at times, but we suffered a goal being disallowed before we scored, it was a pity there was no VAR, and we could have had a penalty in the second half for a clear handball. The next action they scored. We then had a very good 20 minutes to draw but with the third goal and the red card it was much more difficult. The last part of the match was very bad for us but we don’t deserve this.”
The sluggish start to Lopetegui’s reign was not the only thing troubling West Ham’s sizeable support. In the opening minutes of the tie they paraded a banner that read “Stop exploiting loyalty” in protest at rising ticket prices and the removal of some concessions at their club. A productive spell midway through the first half helped to lift the visiting mood, but only temporarily.
The opener, minutes after Danny Ings had a goal disallowed for offside against his former club, was an absolute mess from Liverpool’s perspective. Jean‑Clair Todibo headed Jarrod Bowen’s corner on to Álvarez, who struggled to get the ball from under his feet and was thwarted by Conor Bradley’s tackle when he eventually did so. Wataru Endo attempted to complete the clearance but succeeded in slamming the ball against Jarell Quansah and in off the unfortunate defender.
West Ham’s joy lasted all of four minutes. The hosts levelled courtesy of a flowing move plus Jota’s sharp reactions. The Portugal international pierced the visiting defence with a first‑time pass that released Gakpo down the left. Gakpo’s delicate cross found Federico Chiesa, who swept an acrobatic volley into the ground towards Lukasz Fabianski. Before the West Ham keeper or Max Kilman could intervene Jota, darting in front of the pair as soon as the ball left the Italy international’s foot, equalised with a brave, close-range header.
Jota tormented West Ham again when Liverpool took the lead shortly after the restart, and minutes after Joe Gomez had survived strong appeals by the visitors for handball inside his penalty area. There would be more when Bowen’s cross struck Kostas Tsimikas. The referee, Andy Madley, was again unmoved, correctly as it turned out, and booked Lopetegui for his protestations. Replays showed the ball striking the left‑back in the stomach.
Liverpool’s lead owed much to the determination and vision of Curtis Jones. The midfielder created the goal first with a strong, surging run from deep inside his own half and then, having exchanged passes with Gakpo, by threading a perfectly weighted ball into Jota’s path inside the box. The striker showed his usual pinpoint accuracy in front of goal and found Fabianski’s bottom left hand corner.
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West Ham threatened briefly to restore parity but Kilman and Carlos Soler both squandered excellent chances. Their night deteriorated thereafter. Salah, Chiesa’s second‑half replacement, effectively settled the tie with a convincing finish into the roof of the net after Fabianski had denied Alexis Mac Allister. Álvarez stupidly picked up his second booking of the night for a late foul on Salah two minutes later. Gakpo capitalised ruthlessly, drilling his first goal of the season into the near corner after exchanging passes with Darwin Núñez and seeing another low shot deflect into the opposite corner off Todibo.
“For two months people only asked me about [signing] new players,” said Slot, who made nine changes from the Premier League win against Bournemouth on Saturday. “I constantly told you about the amount of quality players we already have here. We have many quality players.” It showed.
