Klopp's kids can help keep Liverpool's quadruple dream alive

Jurgen Klopp described Sunday's League Cup final triumph as the "most special" of his trophy-laden coaching career.

The 1-0 win over Chelsea in extra time to secure the League Cup – the second of his Liverpool reign – was achieved without several first-team regulars, most notably Mohamed Salah, fellow strikers Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota, defender Trent Alexander-Arnold and goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

An early injury to midfielder Ryan Gravenberch made the prospect of overcoming Chelsea's expensively assembled squad even more daunting, but a group of academy products, already dubbed "Klopp's Kids" stepped up to the plate to help secure a deserved win thanks to Virgil van Dijk's late header.

Conor Bradley, age 20 and playing only his 17th first-team game, started nominally at right-back but has shown already he has the skill and passing range to slot comfortably into defender-cum-midfield hybrid role popularised by the player he was deputising for, Alexander-Arnold.

Though fatigue may have forced Klopp's hand, the German had no qualms about turning to the exuberance of youth, throwing a pair of 19-year-olds in Bobby Clark and James McConnell into midfield and asking Jayden Danns, 18, to lead the attack as the match headed for extra time. The trio of tyros boasted a combined 17 first-team games between them.

An Academy full of character ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Hfd8a7hyxs

With Ibrahima Konate on a yellow card, Klopp entrusted centre-back Jarell Quansah, who at 21 and with 19 Liverpool games under his belt could be considered the older statesman of that quintet, for the second period of extra time.

It's easy to forget that Harvey Elliott, who played the entire 120 minutes, is still only 20, too.

"In more than 20 years it is easily