Friday January 14th 2022
No goal despite being outnumbered
Klopp despairs in the cup at Arsenal
Good starting position wasted: Although Arsenal’s Xhaka sees the red card early on, Liverpool FC can’t get beyond a draw in the English Cup. Who buys the final ticket next week is therefore completely open.
Liverpool FC have missed a reassuring starting position for a place in the final of the English League Cup. The team of team manager Jürgen Klopp did not get more than 0-0 in the semi-final first leg against Arsenal despite being outnumbered for more than an hour. So before the second leg next Thursday in London it is completely open who will meet Chelsea in the final on February 27th.
Liverpool was clearly the better team at Anfield, especially since ex-Gladbacher Granit Xhaka saw the red card in the 24th minute for an emergency brake. The hosts rarely created promising chances but could not accommodate the ball in the goal. The absence of the two star strikers Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah, who played in the Africa Cup of Nations, was particularly noticeable. Takumi Minamino missed Liverpool’s greatest opportunity in the 90th minute when he fired over the almost empty goal from seven yards.
The first leg was originally scheduled for January 6, but the match was postponed due to alleged corona cases in the Reds team. It is now clear that only Trent Alexander-Arnold’s positive test was correct, all others were falsely positive, reported Klopp, who had become infected himself at the beginning of January.
Chelsea, led by team manager Thomas Tuchel, had already prevailed against last year’s finalists Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday and reached the final for the first time since 2015. The Blues, who had already won the first leg 2-0, won the semi-final second leg 1-0 away thanks to a goal by national player Antonio Rüdiger.