Key events
Half-time entertainment. Open up an early present from The Knowledge.
HALF TIME: Liverpool 1-0 West Ham United
On the balance of play, this scoreline flatters West Ham. They’ll need to do some thinking if they’re to deny Liverpool progress to the last four.
45 min +1: One added minute. Benrahma dribbles down the left but can’t get a cross in. Kelleher still hasn’t had his hands warmed.
45 min: Elliott makes good down the right. He sails infield before curling a lovely cross into the mixer. Gakpo rises highest, on the edge of the six-yard box, and guides a header across Areola and inches wide of the right-hand post. On target, that was 2-0, because Areola was rooted to the spot.
44 min: The West Ham fans aren’t letting it get them down, though. A lusty rendition of Bubbles. “It seems to me that Liverpool are shooting from range a lot more than other teams are, and that they themselves used to do,” observes Kári Tulinius. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Klopp or someone on his staff identified some marginal gain, whether purely in goals scored from range, or also because it makes defenders worry about players forty yards from goal, which can free up space in behind.”
42 min: Kudus tries to get something going for West Ham. He dribbles down the right, cuts infield, then … hoicks a wild crossfield pass, directed towards nobody, into the Kop. West Ham have done absolutely nothing in attack.
40 min: A loose ball in the West Ham box. Gomez races in, swings a leg and … misses altogether. He’s never scored a goal in senior football. The wait goes on.
39 min: Jones makes it into the box from the left and attempts the curler. His shot is blocked, then pings back off him and out for a goal kick.
37 min: Tsimikas takes a poor touch that allows Bowen to stride off with the ball. Bowen thinks about the spectacular from 30 yards. Tsimikas takes the opportunity to recover and take the ball back off his toe. Awful and excellent defending in the space of half a second.
35 min: Liverpool are attacking down the right relentlessly. Another long ball, Van Dijk again, nearly finds Gakpo. Areola does well to realise the danger and make it to the edge of the box first.
34 min: Szoboszlai is everywhere. Now he nearly releases Elliott down the right with a raking diagonal looper. Elliott would have been free had he not slipped at the vital moment.
32 min: Van Dijk sprays a sensational long diagonal pass towards Szoboszlai on the right. Liverpool start flicking it around. West Ham can’t get a touch. Szoboszlai, Gakpo and Elliott all with silky touches. Eventually a corner’s won, and nothing comes of it, but Liverpool are playing some very easy-on-the-eye stuff tonight.
30 min: That was a hell of a strike. It’s got Anfield bouncing. On the bench, David Moyes frowns quite a lot.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 West Ham United (Szoboszlai 28)
If you take enough shots, one’s bound to fly in at some point. Quansah wins possession in the centre circle and feeds Szoboszlai in front of him. Szoboszlai storms down the inside-right channel before pearling a low, dipping drive across Areola and into the bottom left from 25 yards. Unstoppable!
26 min: Nunez dribbles into the West Ham box from the left. He holds the ball patiently before spinning and cleverly slipping Elliott into space down the channel. Elliott fizzes a cross into the crowded middle. West Ham half clear, then Gomez clanks the ball out for a goal kick. The Manchester-United-game vibes continue to be felt.
25 min: Elliott worms his way down the right and looks for Gakpo in the middle. Johnson blocks out for a corner, which West Ham deal with easily enough. Liverpool come back at the Hammers; Endo hoicks a shot deep into the Anfield Road end.
23 min: Szoboszlai sends a harmless shot wide right from the edge of the box. Then Jones creams another effort from long distance, but that’s straight down Areola’s throat. A lot of pops at goal, but none of them really threatening. This is in danger of turning into an ersatz repeat of their efforts against Manchester United.
21 min: Kudus cuts in from the right and hits … well, what? It’s not a shot. It can’t be a cross. It flies across the front of the Liverpool box and out for a throw on the left. Most unlike the brilliant Ghanaian.
20 min: Endo slips a pass down the middle for Elliott, who spins and takes another shot from distance. This one’s easy for Areola.
19 min: West Ham finally show in attack, Benrahma dribbling down the left. But upon reaching the edge of the box, he can’t get past a combination of Endo and Gomez. Liverpool snatch possession back.
18 min: Tsimikas loops a long pass down the left and releases Nunez. But again the flag pops up. That’s a fairly borderline offside call as well. No VAR, no chances taken by the linesman, it would seem.
16 min: Liverpool stroke it around. It’s so easy that Gomez loses concentration and plays a blind backpass that nearly sends Bowen away. Gomez breathes again as Van Dijk arrives on the scene to batter clear. Szoboszlai takes up possession on the right flank and crosses deep for Nunez, who can only flash a header wide left.
14 min: Jones hip-shakes his way down the left channel. He tees up Szoboszlai, who miscontrols on the edge of the D. Elliott takes up possession instead, cutting in from the right before twisting and sending a rising screamer inches wide of the top-right corner. That would have been a lovely goal.
12 min: It’s all Liverpool. West Ham can’t keep hold of the ball. At least they’re holding their shape at the back. “Having sold Hendo and bought Endo, I think it’s logical to assume that Joseph N’Do will be in Liverpool’s midfield next season, and Tristan Do the season after. (This ‘joke’ was brought to you by an Only Connect fan.)” And who is that fan? Matt Dony, of course.
10 min: Elliott probes again down the left. His low cross is slashed clear by Johnson. Liverpool have started well.
9 min: Szoboszlai chips elegantly down the inside-right channel but Gakpo can’t get on the end of the pass in the box. West Ham half clear, but Liverpool come back at them quickly, Elliott dribbling hard down the inside-left flank and bobbling a shot across Areola and inches wide of the right-hand post.
7 min: Gakpo picks up possession deep inside his own half and pings a first-time pass down the middle to release Nunez. The flag goes up immediately for offside … though second glance suggests Nunez had timed his run perfectly. No VAR tonight, so reason to allow play to develop before going back to check. The Hammers get away with a big one there.
5 min: Szoboszlai drives down the middle of the park, set away by a quick Van Dijk free kick. He shoots from long range, only to hit the heel of Nunez, who was desperately trying to get out of the way. Szoboszlai and Nunez are able to laugh about it anyway.
3 min: A couple of nervous misplaced passes by Mavropanos. Then Areola slices out of play. The visitors not quite settled yet.
1 min: West Ham quickly ship possession and Liverpool launch it long. Areola dallies on the ball and is very nearly closed down by a combination of Gakpo, Elliott and Jones. He eventually clears his lines, panic over.
West Ham get the ball rolling. They’re kicking towards the Kop in this first half. “I’m cautiously optimistic that Liverpool will succeed in stemming the tide of Moyesy’s side.” Peter Oh, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week. Try the meat-and-potato-based Scandinavian stew.
The teams are out! Liverpool in red, West Ham in their change strip of white. Anticipation crackles around Anfield; it’s Christmas soon, after all. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes. “It’s a wet and blustery night on Merseyside,” reports Bill Preston. “Not quite as chilly as to stomp on your toes to keep warm though. Just a December storm. Down the road from the game (in what used to be the Littlewoods Cup) is the Littlewoods Building. That’s now being turned into TV and film studios (and next door there’s a fine production of Macbeth finishing). Let’s hope some thrilling heroics make the silver screen tonight.”
David Moyes – who has never won at Anfield in 20 attempts – continues the love-in on Sky. “With how well the players have done in Europe, we’re trying to keep everybody ready if we can for this period … we’ve got Nayef Aguerd and Maxwel Cornet ill … Aaron Cresswell was ill but he’s better so he’s back on the bench … it’s an incredibly difficult game … we’ll go about the job tonight and we know we have to try and win it, either in normal time or penalties … we had a great result getting through against Arsenal so we’ll see if we can top it tonight … Jurgen Klopp is a multiple winner who has done incredible stuff with Liverpool over a long period … I thank him for his very kind words and hope I can knock him out of the cup tonight and maybe the next time he might change his words!”
Jurgen Klopp speaks to Sky Sports … and he really likes David Moyes’s West Ham. “West Ham are a physically strong team … David Moyes is doing an incredible job … they are good again, through in Europe, a chance for a semi-final … it’s really impressive … Bowen is probably my favourite player apart from all of my players … it’s just great how he’s developed … we will give it a proper try … I couldn’t respect more what David is doing … on top of that I like him as a person … he is just a nice fellow … winning a final … qualifying for Europe in this league is incredibly difficult … improving the team every year … I really couldn’t respect it more … it’s a proper, proper Premier League game in the League Cup!”
That 1981 final was a controversial one. West Ham had won the FA Cup the previous season, and were leading the Second Division at the time. Liverpool were the reigning champions, but eight points behind joint leaders Ipswich Town and Aston Villa. Alan Kennedy opened the scoring for Liverpool in the 118th minute, driving over a prone and offside Sammy Lee. The linesman flagged for offside, but referee Clive Thomas overruled him. West Ham, fuming, went up the other end. Alvin Martin sent a header towards the top-right corner. With Ray Clemence beaten, Terry McDermott reached up and tipped the ball onto the bar. Penalty, which Ray Stewart dispatched at 101 mph.
Liverpool won the replay at Villa Park three weeks later. It wasn’t as interesting. But it was Liverpool’s first League Cup. They’ve won another eight since. West Ham are still looking for their first.
Liverpool make six changes to the starting XI sent out for the dull goalless draw with Manchester United. Caoimhín Kelleher, Joe Gomez, Jarell Quansah, Curtis Jones, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott come in for Ibrahima Konaté, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Díaz and Mohamed Salah, who are on the bench, and the rested pair of Alisson and Ryan Gravenberch.
West Ham also make six changes to their starting line-up, in the wake of their 3-0 win over Wolves. Alphonse Areola, Angelo Ogbonna, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Ben Johnson, Pablo Fornals and Saïd Benrahma replace Łukasz Fabiański, Kurt Zouma, James Ward-Prowse, Emerson and Lucas Paquetá, who are benched, with Nayef Aguerd missing out altogether.
The teams
Liverpool: Kelleher, Gomez, Quansah, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Szoboszlai, Endo, Jones, Elliott, Nunez, Gakpo.
Subs: Konate, Diaz, Salah, Adrian, Clark, Gordon, McConnell, Alexander-Arnold, Bradley.
West Ham United: Areola, Coufal, Mavropanos, Ogbonna, Johnson, Soucek, Alvarez, Kudus, Fornals, Benrahma, Bowen.
Subs: Fabianski, Cresswell, Zouma, Ward-Prowse, Lucas Paqueta, Ings, Kehrer, Emerson Palmieri, Mubama.
Referee: Tim Robinson (West Sussex).
Preamble
Middlesbrough, Fulham and Chelsea have already made it through to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup. Liverpool and West Ham hope to join them tonight: they face off in a reprise of the 1981 final that kicks off at 8pm GMT. The draw for the semis follows afterwards. It’s on!
