What Arne Slot bought proper as Liverpool beat Southampton in EFL Cup quarter-final
Liverpool beat Southampton 2-1 to reach the semi-final of the Carabao Cup for a record 20th time despite defending for the final quarter
Arne Slot has taken Liverpool into a record 20th League Cup semi-final as the Red’s beat a managerless Southampton.
Slot, who was forced to watch on from the press box as he served a touchline ban, saw his side open the scoring through Darwin Nunez. The Reds’ second goal was Harvey Elliott’s first of the season.
Cody Gakpo came in off his left-hand side and found Elliott who made a run into the box. An easy pass was followed by a smooth finish for the 21-year-old into the bottom left-hand corner. Cameron Archer threatened to unsteady the ship with a delightful strike – but it was too little too late.
Daily Star Sport has a look at what Slot got right in his quarter-final bout.
Trusted a young midfield
As many teams do in the Carabao Cup, Arne Slot took this match as an opportunity to give some Liverpool youngsters a chance. This included handing 17-year-old Trey Nyoni his first senior start alongside 22-year-old Tyler Morton.
Despite the duos young age, they both played with a certain maturity that didn’t make them look like outliers in the side. They were calm with the ball, moved into space when it became available and weren’t afraid to play risky passes to push their team forward.
Slot was also wise to surround the two youngsters with experienced players like Alexis Mac Allister and Wataru Endo, giving them a further sense of security.
Fired up Darwin Nunez
Liverpool fans will admit that Darwin Nunez hasn’t had the best time so far on Merseyside. This season for the Reds he has only bagged two goals in 12 Premier League games. He needed a confidence boost.
Facing a struggling Southampton side, Slot knew it would be a good opportunity to give Nunez exactly what he needed – a goal.
The way in which he scored the opener was with the style and flair that Nunez was paid the big bucks for. Straight run through the middle, an excellent touch to bring it down and a cool finish past the keeper.
Harvey Elliott’s return to the starters
The 21-year-old suffered a foot injury back in September. Although he has been named in all of Liverpool’s squad since November, he hasn’t actually started a game since last season.
If Slot was waiting for a reason to change his mind, he was given one within the first half. Elliott’s run into the box and bottom corner finish was pure class.
Playing off the right, the youngster was always ready to receive a pass and was determined to find a gap. His pass accuracy was strong and every minute he got the ball, he looked a threat.
Captaining Trent Alexander-Arnold
It was a brave choice for Slot to make Alexander-Arnold captain. Amongst all the transfer rumours and allegations that the Liverpool-born defender had refused to sign a contract, he still trusted him to lead the team on the field.
That is exactly what the England international did on his 300th start for the club. He didn’t play as much of an attacking role as he has done in the past. This was likely due to Southampton’s fondness for counter-attacking.
Instead, Alexander-Arnold held the back line and did so brilliantly. He also spun off two Saints attackers to open up the space to then launch a ball up to Nunez where the Red’s striker got the opening goal. Even though the defender was only on for 45 minutes, he did his job perfectly.
Learned from past mistakes
Before the match begun, Slot had admitted that he was expecting this game to be just as tough as the last one. An 83rd minute Mohamed Salah penalty was what Liverpool needed in their last visit to St. Marys to win 3-2.
It could have been an even harder match with Slot playing a younger, less experienced side. Liverpool did have to spend the last quarter of the game defending as Southampton pushed for an equaliser, but aside from this, it was comfortable for Slot.
The damage was done in the first 45; the Saints had left it too little too late.
