Liverpool v Tottenham: Carabao Cup semi-final, second leg – live

16 min “I’ll see Niall Mullen and raise him: I couldn’t give a feck about the League Cup,” says Tim Woods, who didn’t actually say ‘feck’. “I want Liverpool to win the title. And at this point, I’ll cry a little bit if we don’t.”

15 min Davies’s treatment is complete but he has to go off for 30 seconds, which allows him to change his shirt. Bentancur drops into the defence while he’s away.

14 min The corner is headed up in the air, spilled badly by Kinsky and booted clear by Danso. That slithered through his hands like a bar of soap.

Kinsky caught Ben Davies while jumping for the ball. Davies had a small cut down his forehead and will need treatment.

12 min So far so good for the new signing Kevin Danso. His centre-back partner Ben Davies has been the busier; as I type he comes across to challenge Bradley and concede a corner.

10 min Davies makes an important interception on the edge of the area after Gray loses the ball in a dangerous area. Liverpool are on top.

9 min Nunez needs a bit of treatment after being caught by the knee of Richarlison. I think he’ll be able to run it off.

7 min Szoboszlai goes down in the area after a challenge from behind from Son. It looked like a lean rather than a shove and there’s no suggestion VAR will get involved. Liverpool look sharp, though, particularly in wide areas.

6 min Gakpo is fouled on the left wing by Kulusevski roughly 40 yards from goal. Spurs won’t mind a stop-start, er, start to the game.

Liverpool take the free-kick short and work it across the field. Eventually Salah’s deflected shot is comfortably saved to his left by Kinsky.

4 min Richarlison eventually gets to his feet and deliberately bumps into Van Dijk. The referee calls the two players over and reminds them of their age.

3 min Richarlison goes down holding his face after a tussle with Van Dijk. In fairness Van Dijk did wave his elbow in Richarlison’s neck/chin. So while Richarlison probably made it a meal of it by rolling over multiple times, he had every reason to go down.

2 min “I know that all neutrals love Liverpool and will be desperate for us to go through,” says Niall Mullen. “But as an entitled fan of the Reds, I still feel we are owed a non-Covid league title and I have already seen great, good, and mediocre Liverpool teams win this competition. So, I was trying to figure out the best way to go out tonight. Perhaps a comprehensive 1-0 win with a hugely superior xG and then we lose on penalties? Also wouldn’t a Spurs-Newcastle final be something? Two starving coyotes going at it over a juicy looking piece of roadkill.”

Ouch. That last sentence is the most savage twist since Psycho.

1 min Spurs kick off from left to right as we watch.

“Hi Rob!” says Joe Pearson before getting down to brass tacks. “I love you, man, but you keep putting Alisson in the team when you already told us that Kelleher was replacing him.”

Ach! Force of habit. I can confirm Kelleher is in net.

“Kudos to Spurs for signing Kevin Danso,” says Peter Oh. “Apparently they gazumped Wolverhampton for his services. Personally, I wish he had opted for Molineux, because Danso’s With Wolves would have been box-“office gold.”

A reminder of the teams

Liverpool (4-3-3) Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Jones; Salah, Nunez, Gakpo.
Substitutes: Jaros, Endo, Diaz, Mac Allister, Chiesa, Elliott, Jota, Tsimikas, Quansah.

Spurs (4-3-3) Kinsky; Gray, Danso, Davies, Spence; Sarr, Bentancur, Bissouma; Kulusevski, Richarlison, Son.
Substitutes: Austin, Porro, Reguilon, Bergvall, Ajayi, Cassanova, Olusesi, Moore, Tel.

Referee Craig Pawson.

“Tell Phil Moseley that from my point of view, 30 miles or so from him in Durham, North Carolina, the more likely outcome here is a heroic, dramatic Spurs win tonight, followed by an abject, tail-between-legs disappointment at Wembley,” says Gregory Phillips.

“Is there a case to be made that the League Cup is more enjoyable competition than the FA Cup?” asks Michal Pac Pomarnacki. “It’s over and done with pretty much halfway through the season and unlike the FA Cup it does not take up any full weekends. Most of the games are played in the evenings/late afternoon adding to the spectacle. Maybe it’s me being a Liverpool fan, but I’ve always preferred the League Cup to the more revered FA Cup.”

As a child of the eighties I’ll always have a fondness for … actually both competitions were great in the eighties so scratch that. I guess the FA Cup will always be more prestigious but I see your point about the League Cup being more enjoyable.

“Come along Mr Mosley, don’t be too fatalistic,” says Dean Kinsella. “The whole thing with being Spursy is that one day they perform much worse than they should and the next they are marvelous (eg the City thrashing in November). Tonight could well be one of those marvellous nights. Why not?”

A pessimist is never disappointed (part 2)

“Ah, Rob, you had to go and mention the Q-word!” says Matt Dony. “I’m still expecting a sticky patch in the league, and for Arsenal to sneak through. What Slot has done, with essentially last year’s team, is astonishing. Winning just one trophy in his first season would be an achievement. Four trophies is surely too much to hope for, even in the craziest late-night, Stinking-Bishop-and-red-wine-induced reveries.

“Fighting on four fronts is ridiculous. And it has the added complication (which I’m surprised isn’t stressed more) of swapping between four different match balls. We all laugh when a manager gets in a strop over a particular ball, but the fact is they are all different and behave differently. At the pointy end of the season, where Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League games come thick and fast, constantly swapping ball must be a genuine challenge.

“Anyway. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For now, I’ll just worry about tonight. (Heavy emphasis on ‘worry’. Being a football fan really isn’t as much fun as it should be, is it?)”

Funnily enough Roy Keane made exactly the same point about the balls on Stick to Football this week.

The winners will meet Newcastle, who completed a 4-0 aggregate win over Arsenal last night, in the final.

“Good afternoon from Raleigh, North Carolina,” writes Phil Moseley. “Can’t watch the game as I don’t subscribe to Paramount Plus, so relying on you to chart our inevitable pasting by Liverpool, falling at the last or last-but-one hurdle yet again in the Levy Era.”

Team news: Danso starts

Read Jacob Steinberg’s preview

Fresh from overseeing a dogged 2-0 win against Brentford on Sunday, Postecoglou sat down and spoke for 43 minutes before a moment that could define his time in north London. The head coach considered the chance for Spurs “to make a big impact” by going to Anfield and building on their 1-0 win in the first leg. He thought about his captain, Son Heung-min, still being trophyless after nearly 10 years at the club. He seemed energised by sealing deals for the centre-back Kevin Danso and the French forward Mathys Tel at the end of a difficult transfer window.

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