Liverpool rallied from behind to secure a 2-1 win over Fulham in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg on Wednesday night.
Carabao Cup
Result: Liverpool 2-1 Fulham
Date: 10 January 2024
Venue: Anfield
Jurgen Klopp made a host of changes from the FA Cup win over Liverpool, as Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Diogo Jota were recalled while Fulham welcomed back Palhinha, Willian and Raul Jimenez.
The two sides met last month the Premier League, with the Reds edging the victory in a seven-goal thriller at Anfield, although Alexander-Arnold, who got the winner, was missing from the squad through injury.
While the clash did not produce the same fireworks as the league clash, the opening goal arrived on 19 minutes for the away side when Van Dijk's poor clearance fell to Andreas Pereira who cut the ball back for Willian to fire home.
With Liverpool struggling to carve out chances, the visitors nearly bagged a second goal in the 38th minute but Luis Diaz popped up with a vital goal-saving cleared to deny Bobby De Cordova-Reid.
Klopp responded with a double change in the second half, with Gravenberch and Harvey Elliot making for Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo ten minutes after the halftime interval.
Fulham's resistance eventually broke in the 68th minute when Curtis Jones collected a pass from Nunez before finding the back of the net a with a deflected effort from distance.
The turnaround was complete for the home side three minutes as Jota did well to play in Nunez who turn pulled the back for Gakpo to fire home with a sweeping finish in the box.
The Reds did push for more goals in the latter stages of the second half, but Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno produced a couple superb saves to keep his side trailing by one goal ahead of the return leg in London.
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