Liverpool dominate West Ham to reach League Cup semis

Liverpool’s English midfielder #17 Curtis Jones (R) scores his team fifth goal during the English League Cup quarter-final football match between Liverpool and West Ham United at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on December 20, 2023. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)

Liverpool destroyed West Ham 5-1 to reach the League Cup semi-finals on Wednesday, easing the frustration of their weekend Premier League stalemate against Manchester United.

Curtis Jones scored twice and Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah were all on the scoresheet for Jurgen Klopp’s dominant team.

They join Chelsea, Fulham and Middlesbrough in the last four of the competition.

No team have won more League Cups than Liverpool, who lifted the trophy for the ninth time in the 2021/22 season, and they tore into the visitors from the start at Anfield.

Liverpool, who had 34 shots against United on Sunday without finding the net, launched wave after wave of attacks, with West Ham struggling to lay a glove on their opponents.

Harvey Elliott blasted over the bar in the 14th minute and Szoboszlai fired wide but the Hungary midfielder gave the home side the lead they deserved shortly before the half-hour mark.

It came after Said Benrahma lost the ball carelessly in midfield, squandering a chance for a rare West Ham break.

Jarell Quansah fed Szoboszlai on the right of the Liverpool attack and he let fly with powerful shot from outside the area that flew into the far corner, giving goalkeeper Alphonse Areola no chance.

The game continued in the same pattern, with West Ham forced to feed off scraps — a familiar feeling for a team who have won just once at Anfield since 1963.

The home side, who had Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold on the bench, could have doubled