Liverpool’s League Cup defence will continue after they dispatched West Ham to the tune of 5-1, but should Arne Slot be looking to make a run at Wembley this season?
West Ham stood in the Reds’ way of a place in the fourth round on Wednesday evening but were unable to stop a wave of five goals after the visitors took an early lead.
It was a night for the forwards as Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo both netted a brace, while Mohamed Salah came off the bench to snap a three-game run without a goal.
The victory adds another fixture to the schedule next month, and it includes a long midweek trip to Brighton.
Here, Joanna Durkan (@JoannaDurkan_) and Abigail Rudkin (@rudkin_abigail) discuss the second comeback win of the season and look ahead to what a place in the fourth round could mean for Liverpool.
The good…
ABIGAIL: I think the atmosphere in the ground had vastly improved from the last home game. Everyone seemed more up for it, especially in my section of upper main close to the Kop.
Mostly brilliant performances all round with the attacking force stepping up to the job, Gakpo and Jota were outstanding.
A game like this was perfect for them both with Gakpo competing against Diaz for that left-sided position and Jota not being on his best form so far this season.
Both proved their ability and have given the manager big decisions to make going into Wolves on the weekend.
?? Applause and big smiles from Arne Slot after #LFC beat West Ham 5-1 in the League Cup. pic.twitter.com/bbuUK0WUjd
— This Is Anfield (@thisisanfield) September 25, 2024
JOANNA: I wasn’t at the game like you Abigail, but through the television it did sound better, and maybe that is due to tickets finding their way to those who are often squeezed out.
For me, setting a new high score under Slot was enjoyable and it felt like it could have been more too, even if West Ham did give us a decent test.
I agree with Abigail that the forwards are giving Slot a welcome headache, they’re pushing each other and that is only good news for us.
And whatever that Kostas diving header was, it was funny to watch back and immediately made the viral, ‘Do you ever look at someone and wonder, what is going on inside their head?’ come to mind.
The bad…
JOANNA: Conceding the first goal, again, was not ideal. We have conceded three goals this season and all of them have been the first of the game.
But if you want to turn it into a positive, then the fact we have won two of those three fixtures speaks to the mentality and composure within the squad – the Forest defeat was clearly a good lesson.
I kind of felt bad for Quansah. You could tell he was really trying to prove himself, but I sensed that he was just trying too hard to make things happen.
He will get his chance, he just has to be patient.
ABIGAIL: I’ve got to say, there wasn’t much I didn’t enjoy. I think Kostas struggled at times but it didn’t cost us too much, so I can’t say I’m too bothered about his mistakes.
Like I said, the atmosphere was great where I was. The only negative was someone shopping for Halloween costumes on their phone in the row in front of me for the whole second half, which was a bit distracting, to say the least.
Especially when I’d struggled to get tickets to be there and knew people who didn’t manage to get a ticket sorted!
Little things like that make me worry about the atmosphere going forward, but overall everyone was doing their bit.
JOANNA: I want to know how they even manage to get signal on their phone to do that at Anfield?!
Another topflight side in the next round, would you fancy us to make a run or is Slot better to prioritise elsewhere?
JOANNA: I think it is important for Slot to push for a trophy in his first season and the League Cup is a great place to start.
This match proves he has the depth to be able to rotate and still get the desired result, and I wouldn’t put it past him to name a similar side against Brighton.
But this away trip comes between league games away at Arsenal and then at home to Brighton just days later, and the priority surely won’t be on a cup match when we’re in the middle of another run of seven games in 21 days.
ABIGAIL: This Liverpool side is capable of achieving everything. That belief has been instilled into us for years now and it’s carried over into Arne’s time as manager.
As Joanna said, this performance shows how strong the depth in our squad is to be able to fight on all fronts. We’ve got players desperate for game time that have proven themselves to be useful going forward.
Brighton away is a difficult draw compared to some others, but they’ll be more fearful of us than we are of them.
