Carabao Cup final: Liverpool’s route to Wembley

Liverpool take on Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.

Here, the PA news agency looks at how Jurgen Klopp’s Reds made it to Wembley.

Takumi Minamino kicked off his Carabao Cup campaign in similar fashion to 12 months previously with two goals in the third round. Both teams made nine changes – with 16-year-old Kaide Gordon and 18-year-old Conor Bradley making their debuts – and Minamino struck after just four minutes. Caoimhin Kelleher saved a first-half Christos Tzolis penalty before Divock Origi’s first goal in a year was followed by Minamino’s second.

League Cup specialists Minamino and Origi put their side through after a testing opening hour at Deepdale in which Adrian was the busier of the two goalkeepers. There was another debut, this time for youngster Harvey Blair, and a first start full for fellow 18-year-old Tyler Morton, but it needed Minamino to make the breakthrough in the 62nd minute with the visitors’ first shot on target. Origi’s late acrobatic flick secured progress.

Minamino scored for the third successive cup match, his equaliser in the final seconds of six minutes’ stoppage time setting up a shoot-out in which Kelleher was the hero. Liverpool twice recovered from a two-goal deficit, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain replying to Jamie Vardy’s double inside 13 minutes, with Diogo Jota responding to James Maddison’s brilliant strike before Minamino recorded his fourth in three matches in the competition. Kelleher saved two spot-kicks and Jota slotted the winner.

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker made his League Cup debut after three and a half years at the club but it was the other end of the pitch which came under scrutiny as 78 per cent possession resulted in just one shot on target – in added time –