3 Liverpool players who performed and 2 who underperformed against Leicester City | EFL Cup Quarter-final
Liverpool earned a hard-fought victory against Leicester City in the EFL Cup quarter-final on Wednesday, staging a stunning comeback from two goals down to win 5-4 on penalties
Keeping the congested Premier League calendar in mind, Klopp made a plethora of changes to Liverpool’s starting XI. The makeshift team gave Leicester an opportunity to get a foothold in the match. Jamie Vardy netted two early goals in the first 13 minutes of the game to put Leicester City firmly in control of the game.
Former Arsenal star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made full use of his rare starting XI appearance and pulled a goal back for the Reds. Leicester City struck again through James Maddison just past the hour-mark, restoring their two-goal cushion.
The hosts kept on knocking on Leicester’s door, but the equalizer did not come in the first 45. In the 68th minute, Diogo Jota came to Liverpool’s rescue, cutting the deficit in half before Takumi Minamino scored a dramatic equalizer in injury time. The match finished 3-3 in regular time, forcing the two teams to take part in a nerve-wracking penalty shootout.
James Milner, Roberto Firmino, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita dispatched successful penalties. Unfortunately, Minamino failed to capitalize on Luke Thomas’ miss. Ryan Bertrand then missed Leicester’s sixth spot-kick, allowing Jota to win the game for the Anfield outfit.
It was a mixed bag for Liverpool on Wednesday night as some players lived up to their billing, while others scuffed their chances.
Here are three standout performers and two underperformers from Liverpool’s win over Leicester City in the EFL Cup:
Performed: Ibrahima Konate
Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate has made quite a name for himself over the last couple of months. Last night, he cemented his place as one of the brightest prospects at Liverpool.
Just a casual reminder that we bought Ibrahima Konate for £36m and he’s already better than most centre backs in the league. https://t.co/zulDU2GKnN
Konate did not get the opportunity to start the game for Liverpool last night and was subbed in for Billy Koumetio in the second half.
He immediately calmed the Liverpool defense down with his risk-free distribution and helped neutralize Jamie Vardy.
Underperformed: Tyler Morton
Last weekend, Tyler Morton was one of Liverpool’s most ordinary players in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League. He looked nervous more often than not and did not make anything notable happen.
James Milner made his Premier League debut in 2002, just 10 days after Tyler Morton was born.
Yesterday, they started together in Liverpool's midfield 👶👴 https://t.co/NSFarALl97
Against Leicester, Morton failed to improve upon his last weekend’s display and looked just as subdued.
He picked up a yellow card just after 10 minutes and spent the next 35 minutes pulling his punches. Having failed to convince Klopp, Morton was taken off at half-time, with James Milner replacing him.