Liverpool 3-3 Leicester – Liverpool win 5-4 on penalties
Liverpool assistant coach Pep Lijnders had made no bones about the fact that the Reds were struggling with fixture pile-up after it was confirmed that the Premier League would not be introducing a “firebreak” to tackle rising Covid cases.
“I think it is absurd [not postponing games],” Ljinders said ahead of the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Leicester City. “You’ll have to ask the teams why they want to play. With the Covid cases being this fresh, it’d make sense to have more time before the next game.”
With that in mind, it seemed inevitable that the Reds would field a weakened side against the Foxes at Anfield.
Caoimhin Kelleher returned in goal, while Liverpool also named three teenagers – Conor Bradley, Billy Koumetio and Tyler Morton – in the starting XI.
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In other circumstances, it might have been a rare chance to impress but as Jamie Vardy ran riot in the first half, the tie will instead have to go down as a tough, if valuable, lesson for the trio.
All three were taken off simultaneously as they were replaced by James Milner, Diogo Jota and Ibrahima Konate. Jurgen Klopp was right to introduce the big guns as Liverpool once again cut the deficit and thanks to a 95th minute equaliser from Takumi Minamino, took Leicester to penalties.
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Billy Koumetio – 5/10
Koumetio made his Liverpool debut against FC Midtjylland in the Champions League a year ago and while he’s still just 19 years old, he is still prone to individual errors and struggled with the pace of Leicester’s counter-attack.
Conor Bradley – 5/10
The right-back showed glimpses of promise but was sloppy in possession in the run-up to a Leicester goal.
Tyler Morton 6/10
Morton kept his place after starting in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham but was booked early on – and it could have been worse. That said, he’s industrious and is perhaps a little unfortunate to be thrown in at the deep end so soon with Thiago having tested positive for Covid.
In truth, that applied to Koumetio too, with Nat Phillips unavailable through injury (Virgil van Dijk has also tested positive) and Bradley, who was deployed with Neco Williams higher up the pitch.
Owen Beck – N/A
The 19-year-old came on towards the end to replace Kostas Tsimikas, who had struggled himself in place of Andy Robertson at left-back.
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