Liverpool progressed to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup after a dramatic win over Arsenal on Wednesday night and were rewarded with a tricky tie away at fellow Premier League side Aston Villa.
Jurgen Klopp’s side pulled off a miraculous comeback on Wednesday, with Divock Origi finding an equalising goal in the 94th minute to take the game to penalties. Indeed, debutant Caoimhín Kelleher saved the crucial penalty from Dani Ceballos to win the game for the home side, who will now travel to Villa Park for the last eight fixture.
Liverpool may yet have to reschedule the game around their extremely busy December schedule, which currently sees them play eight fixtures including a trip to Qatar for the Club World Cup. The win, although impressive, may not have been the best news for Klopp’s side then, as it adds to an already busy schedule for the title hopefuls.
However, Liverpool fans were still confident after they were drawn away to Dean Smith’s side on Thursday morning.
Some of the best reactions from Liverpool fans to the draw can be seen in the tweets below.
We'll face @AVFCOfficial in the @Carabao_Cup quarter-finals ? pic.twitter.com/lMyWyvxoLc
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 31, 2019
3rd best possible opponent, shame it’s away, and a shame that City and United got the two very easy draws
Just tell me when I get to see Elliott, Brewster and Jones play again dammit!
— Jürgen Meister (@SS_LFC) October 31, 2019
PLAY THE KIDS! THEY GOT US THERE THEYLL WIN US THE WHOLE THING
— . (@BrewsterRoIe) October 31, 2019
Play the kids again great experience for them
— craig lewis (@craigylou) October 31, 2019
Klopp has experienced the January fixture pile up caused by going deep into this competition already.
Its ALL about the PL, lets not distracted about that. Why risk it for such a minor competition. Keep playing the kids/2nd string (although Keita getting injured shows the risks)
— PS (@PS_YNWA) October 31, 2019
Another good run out for the kids.
Their performance last night shows they can handle it
— Gavin Dickerson (@Hadesr66) October 31, 2019
Easy win, just get the big Divock
— Wahid (@__Wahid) October 31, 2019
These tweets show that although there are doubts about which Liverpool team might turn up, fans are still confident of progressing at Villa Park.
What do we think?
It will be interesting to see what happens with this game, as it will surely be moved to accommodate the Reds’ crazy schedule, if not Klopp may choose to forfeit the game. It would not be a surprise to see Klopp play another young side against Villa, who will no doubt want to win a trophy, so it may not be as easy as game as most Reds fans are expecting. The Reds’ last game at Villa Park finished 6-0, but with the two sides meeting this weekend, we may get a closer idea of what Klopp’s young side can expect if and when they travel there again for the Carabao Cup game.
