On Wednesday night, Liverpool opened their defence of the Carabao Cup at home to league one side Derby County.
With the 3rd round tie being Liverpool’s penultimate clash before the World Cup in Qatar, Jurgen Klopp rotated his side and handed out five full first-team debuts to Layton Stewart, Bobby Clark, Stefan Bajcetic, Melkamu Frauendorf and summer signing Calvin Ramsay.
The most memorable debuts, however, came to 16-year-old academy prospect Ben Doak, who was a 2nd half-substitute and caused plenty of problems for derby in a right-wing role.
With the rumours around the club’s ownership and constant transfer talk recently, the evening was a reminder that the future at the club continues to be bright.
Despite his penalty miss, Roberto Firmino produced a fine cameo to further question his lack of involvement in the Brazil squad for the World Cup.
Harvey Elliott continued his fine campaign after a fine performance at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday by showing his creative qualities again last night from a midfield role.
A special mention to the forgotten man and hero of the lockdown season (20-21) Nat Phillips (in the air du du du du du) who once again showed his solid defensive attributes, particularly aerially.
The hero of the evening, and not for the first time from a penalty shootout was Caoimhin Kelleher with 3 sublime saves from the penalty spot to send Liverpool through.
Jurgen Klopp in his post-match press conference described Kelleher as ” the best 2nd keeper in the world”.
Could he be the man to replace Alisson in the long term?
Liverpool can be optimistic about a defence of their cup, with eliminations to Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham narrowing down the big names in the competition.
Manchester United host Aston Villa on Thursday night before the draw for the fourth round, with another premier league side set to be eliminated.
The ties for the fourth round are shortly after the World Cup final, the week commencing December 19th.
