Arsenal beat Liverpool on penalties at Anfield at the end of what was an incredibly dull game that I won’t bore you with again.
Bernd Leno saved two penalties while Mohamed Elneny was the only player to miss for Arsenal. Joe Willock scored the winner.
Speaking after the game, Bernd Leno said, “It was a very tough game, we made a few changes but you could see our philosophy. It’s only the Carabao Cup but we wanted to get through to the quarter-final to win another trophy”
He then said he would have preferred to win the game in 90 minutes but it’s always good for a keeper to save penalties and he enjoyed seeing the happy face of his teammates after Willock sealed the win.
Leno was also asked about the situation with Emi Martinez and he confirmed the club had been very clear with him that he was Arsenal’s number one.
Liverpool: Adrian, N Williams, R Williams, van Dijk, Milner, Grujic, Jones, Wilson, Minamino, Jota, Salah.
Subs: Kelleher, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Gomez, Robertson, Origi, Elliott.
https://twitter.com/LFC/status/1311720069697875976
Arsenal: Leno. Cedric, Holding, Gabriel, Kolasinac, Ceballos, Willock, Xhaka (c), Pepe, Nketiah, Saka
Subs: Runarrsson, David Luiz, Tierney, Elneny, Maitland-Niles, Nelson, Lacazette
https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/1311723805635743745
Arsenal travelled to Anfield to face Liverpool in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on Thursday 1 October.
Arsenal have won the League Cup just twice in their history (1986/87, 1992/93) which is quite something when you think they’ve won the FA Cup 14 times.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have won the League Cup eight times (1980/81, 1981/82, 1982/83, 1983/84, 1994/95, 2000/01, 2002/03, 2011/12), more than any other side in the history of the competition that started in 1960. Then again, they only have seven FA Cups.
The two sides have faced each other in the competition under its various names 16 times over the years which averages out as once every four years in the tournament.
You will, of course, remember we played them just last season, the first time in 10 years in the League Cup. It was an epic match that finished 5-5 BEFORE it went to penalties, which Arsenal lost 5-4, giving the game an overall score of 10-9.
Two of Arsenal’s four goalscorers that day, Lucas Torreira, Joe Willock, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Gabrielli Martinelli, will not be available for Thursday’s fixture. Lucas Torreira is out with a terminal case of transferitis while Martinelli is still recovering from a serious knee injury that will keep him out of our lives until 2021.
Shkodran Mustafi will also be absent, his hamstring still in the process of reattaching itself. He scored one of Liverpool’s five.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also scored that day which is more surprising than the fact he will miss both September games against his old side with a knee injury.
Arsenal and Liverpool previous League Cup meetings:
WON 15 Oct, 1968 – Arsenal v Liverpool 2-1 (fourth round)
LOST 07 Feb, 1978 – Liverpool v Arsenal 2-1 (semi-final first leg)
DRAW 14 Feb, 1978 – Arsenal v Liverpool 0-0 (semi-final second leg)
DRAW 01 Dec, 1981 – Arsenal v Liverpool 0-0 (fourth round)
LOST 08 Dec, 1981 – Liverpool v Arsenal 3-0 (fourth round replay)
WON 05 Apr, 1987 – Arsenal v Liverpool 2-1 (FINAL)
DRAW 02 Nov, 1988 – Liverpool v Arsenal 1-1 (third round)
DRAW 09 Nov, 1988 – Arsenal v Liverpool 0-0 (third round replay)
LOST 23 Nov, 1988 – Arsenal v Liverpool 1-2 (third round 2nd replay)
WON 25 Oct, 1989 – Arsenal v Liverpool 1-0 (third round)
LOST 11 Jan, 1995 – Liverpool v Arsenal 1-0 (quarter-final)
LOST 27 Nov, 1996 – Liverpool v Arsenal 4-2 (fourth round)
WON 09 Jan, 2007 – Liverpool v Arsenal 3-6 (quarter-final)
WON 28 Oct, 2009 – Arsenal v Liverpool 2-1 (fourth round)
LOST 30 Oct, 2019 – Liverpool v Arsenal 5-5 (fourth round, Liverpool won on penalties)
WON 1 Oct. 2020 – Liverpool vs Arsenal 0-0 (fourth round, Arsenal won on penalties)