February 7 – A commanding performance from Liverpool saw them cruise to a 4-0 victory over Spurs at Anfield on Thursday, securing their spot in the EFL Cup final at Wembley where they will face Newcastle United March 16 as they look to retain the cup they won last season.
For Liverpool’s head coach, Arne Slot, this marks his first shot at silverware, following an impressive debut season in English football that has seen him lose just three competitive matches.
On the other hand, for Ange Postecoglou, this defeat comes as a painful setback. Despite a promising win over Brentford in the Premier League on Sunday, the loss to Liverpool adds another tough low to his tenure.
“I guess that Liverpool deserved the victory,” said Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou after the full time whistle. “They were the far better team – we were not able to get a grip of the game.
“We allowed them to get into the game and we were not as aggressive as we needed to be. We didn’t get the game started off in the right footing.
“It was very difficult for us to wrestle that control back.”
Whilst the issues at Spurs continue to thicken, Liverpool continued to impress. There was a certain degree of expectation that Liverpool would undo Spurs’ 1-0 advantage heading into the Anfield leg, but what we witnessed was a physical and tactical dismantling.
Without many of his star players due to injury, as he has done for much of the season, Postecoglou had no answer for Liverpool’s attack, comprised of in-form Cody Gakpo, the ultra-reliable Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez, who absolutely ran his socks off.
In fact, Spurs were unable to land a single shot on target, with Reds youngster Conor Bradley particularly impressive in the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold on the right hand side.
Liverpool will now look to the final at Wembley on the 16th of March. In recent years, the Reds have had a strong record at the home of English football, with a 100% win rate in their last three visits – picking up two EFL cups and an FA Cup in the process under former coach Jurgen Klopp.
“It’s always nice to play a final,” Liverpool boss Arne Slot said.
“We come in every day, we try to improve the team. The players try so hard to improve themselves, but in the end it’s about reaching finals and winning things.”
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1741596503labto1741596503ofdlr1741596503owedi1741596503sni@g1741596503niwe.1741596503yrrah1741596503