Liverpool 1 Man City 1 AET (Man City win Capital One Cup 3-1 on penalties)

In retrospect quite simply our luck ran out.  It was not to be.  Mostly out played throughout with City hitting the post, Simon Mignolet pulling off a string of critical saves and Raheem Sterling’s woeful finishing letting us off the hook more than once.

It was one step too far. Not this time being outplayed and rescuing ourselves in the realms of a penalty shoot out.  It started so promisingly, with Can, first up, coolness personified in chipping his penalty almost down the middle.  And then Fernandinho hit the post.

Caballero earmarked as City’s weak link became the hero saving brilliantly from Lucas, Milner and Lallana in turn crushing Liverpool’s dreams as Ya ya Toure swept home the winning penalty.

Before the match I questioned whether Jurgen Klopp had lost his sanity starting Lucas Leiva alongside Sakho and Adam Bodgan on the bench.  To be fair the Brazilian was simply imperious, intercepting, tackling and heading clearances as if his life depended on it and barking orders as if he was the de facto captain.

For all Mignolet’s brilliance with an abundance of brilliance saves the fact he presented City with their goal in open play letting the ball go through in stead of standing tall and gathering in the shot into his midriff spoke volumes.  It highlights the fact that five year contract or no five year contract he is a calamity waiting to happen and has no future at the club.

We depended on the brilliance of Daniel Sturridge to win us the game, but he lacked the sharpness only game time can bring and our lack of creativity and invention sold the England striker short although he played a key role in Coutinho’s equaliser intelligently playing the ball back across the face of goal for Lallana to shoot against the post before the Brazilian  swept home.

Origi came close, seeing his header from Milner’s cross palmed away, but in reality that was as good as it got in the 120 minutes of open play.

Christian Benteke, must have reached for his mobile the instant he returned to the changing room with his younger Belgian colleague once again preferred to him as a replacement and Sturridge out on his feet for the last third of the match.

We huffed and puffed in the engine room of midfield, but the quality was very rarely there and it has probably already dawned on Klopp that this midfield trio will not start as a threesome in the first game of next season.

The side lacks quality, but we already knew that and that Raheem Sterling picked up his first winner’s medal after leaving Anfield, is a further kick in the teeth even if he was poor in the extreme.

Man of the match: Lucas Leiva

Liverpool scrape through with early penalty against German underdogs Augsburg

Liverpool scrape through with early penalty against German underdogs Augsburg

Blog by dedlfc (David Douglas)

Liverpool 1: Milner 5' (pen) Augsburg 0:

Pre-game Thoughts: Only one change from the first leg away from home a week ago with Lucas getting the call to fill in at the back in place of Kolo Toure. Hopefully the lads and the crowd can rise to the challenge.There is maybe an early warning shot of things to come in the first minute as Caiuby latches on to a ball in acres of space, but thankfully fires the shot over the crossbar. 
  
GOAL! Augsburg midfielder Kohr accidentally handles the ball in the box after being nudged by a teammate on a cross. It's harsh and surprising, but a penalty is awarded, and Milner coolly slots it home low to the keeper’s left, 1-0 to us. 


Firmino goes glory hunting, trying to hit a half-volley from distance, but it innocently bounces past the far post. He had Milner and (an offside) Sturridge in the box ahead of him, and both are a wee bit upset at the Brazilian's decision making. We aren't exactly buzzing, but they are creating some early chances. 

Sturridge goes a bit early again and the play is stopped for offside. Moments later Coutinho gets through but fires his first-time shot straight at the keeper.

The Reds are really starting to look dangerous going forward as they grow into the game. Unfortunately, Augsburg have also looked dangerous in their few forays into our territory. 

Lucas nearly commits a disastrous error. His dreadful back pass never reached Mignolet, instead falling to Caiuby, who thankfully can't take full advantage of the situation. 

Halftime: The Mighty Reds will be disappointed not to be in further in front at the half after a pretty dominant performance so far. We have nearly 60% of the possession, more corners (7-1), more shots (7-3), and more shots on target (5-1). But Augsburg are still very much in this, as an equalizer would suddenly put us in danger of elimination. 

 Sturridge shoots just wide of the far post with a right-footed effort from inside the box. He was offside (again) but the flag stayed down and he should have made it 2-0 there with his weaker right foot.Because we need to continue being bad for the old heart, an Augsburg set play creates a dangerous chance for the visitors just moments after Sturridge's shot. Milner putting in a pretty good shift tonight. 

Been making runs in behind all night, and linking up well with the front three. 

If we dominated the first half, the run of play is much more even after the first 15 minutes of the second.

Hendo completely misses Milner making a run into space, instead giving it away trying to thread a difficult pass into the box. Our manager Klopp is not overly impressed with the captain's decision. 

Origi comes on for Sturridge. Danny ain't too happy about being taken off. He'll be even more upset when the trainers put him in bubble wrap, and lock him away until Sunday. 

Mignolet comes up big again! Quickly coming off the line to save a 1v1. It's official, we are just not going to get a second goal tonight. Henderson hits a sitter straight at the keeper, and anxiety continues to rise at Anfield. Teixeira comes on for Coutinho.

BIG chance for Augsburg. Five minutes left in regulation and at least as five heart attacks to survive between now and the final whistle. Speaking of which a free kick in a very dangerous area...which had Mignolet beat and very nearly curls and creeps in the top corner.

Is it play it into the corner and waste time time? You betcha but our game management makes a hash of this and Augsburg have their last chance which their main striker Bobadillo hits over!!! Phew !!!! .

Full Time: It was just enough. It was a night where Liverpool created enough to put the tie to bed early, but that second goal just wasn't going to come. Regardless, this is Europe, and all that matters is surviving and advancing. And advance they did, on to the Round of 16!
 

Man of the match – James Milner – his workrate, constant running and vital penalty mean that we are through and go into the final with a win despite it not being emphatic.

Special mentions – Mignolet - solid performance and no real dodgy moments for a change. Sturridge/Coutinho/Firmino trio – in the first half showed the potential threat these three playing together are able to provide moving forward.

Liverpool XI 4-2-3-1): Mignolet: Clyne, Lucas, Sakho, Moreno: Henderson, Can: Milner, Firmino, Coutinho(Teixeira 79mins): Sturridge (Origi 66mins)

Subs not used: Ward, Toure, Benteke, Origi, Smith, Teixeira, Chirivella

Goals: Milner (pen) 5

Booked: Firmino        

                      

Augsburg XI (4-2-3-1): Hitz: Verhaegh, Janker(Parker 89mins), Klavan, Stafylidis: Esswein, Altintop: Werner(Bobadilla 72mins), Ja-Cheol (Moravek 79mins), Caiuby: Kohr

Subs not used: Manninger, Opare, Parker, Max, Rieder 

Booked: Stafylidis, Caiuby, Janker

Attendance: 43,801

Referee: Clement Turpin (France)

Dour draw means Klopp’s frustrated boys have work to do at Anfield in 2nd leg -Augsburg 0 Liverpool 0

Blog by dedlfc (David Douglas)

Pre –Game Build- up:The same XI start tonight as started against Villa, hopefully that means good things. The front three of Firmino, Coutinho, and Sturridge should give us plenty of firepower in the final third, and this is as good a night as any for Sturridge to finally show what he can do for us in Europe. Very nice to see our captain Jordan Henderson leading us out of the tunnel on a European night at last. 

Fantastic atmosphere in the stadium. Loads of flags waving and an electric feel about this arena.

Thirty seconds in and we are nearly caught out napping with a well-placed long ball that is just beyond the Augsburg striker. Disastrous early start averted. Just.

Some good pressing leads to an early chance for Firmino, but he shoots a weak effort straight at the keeper and the game remains at this early stage.

A nervy, sloppy start for both sides here in the first 20 minutes. Possession is split about evenly, but neither has shown much cutting edge in the attacking third. Very disappointing showing especially from our midfield who are not grasping this game by the scruff of the neck so far.

WWK Stadium is rockin'. The fans are putting on a better performance than either side right now.

Augsburg forced into an early sub as their main striking threat Bobadilla pulled up with an apparent hamstring knock. Bobadilla has been struggling since the opening couple of minutes, but finally decided he had had enough.

Henderson is furious at Sturridge for not playing him through on a 3 on 3 break. The simplest of through balls would have seen the captain in on goal, but Sturridge instead decides to selfishly shoot from well outside the box. The shot is deflected behind for a corner, but still a huge missed opportunity there.

Loads of players slipping around out there, and a Coutinho slip helped lead to an Augsburg break. The slick pitch is definitely something to keep an eye on in the second half. Maybe a change of boots is in order?

Augsburg create the best chances of the half, both in stoppage time. The defense completely switched off, and Mignolet had to make a big one vs one save and then struggles to collect a dangerous cross just moments later. We are lucky to go into the halftime break on equal terms.

Halftime: A disappointing first half where we struggled to make our mark on a side that we should be comfortably beating. Prior to the very end of the first half, we probably had slightly better chances, but poor decision-making and sloppy build-up play cost us in the final third. Both sides have had an equal share of the ball, but Augsburg look more confident in both attack and defense. I hope Klopp has some not-so-cool words for the lads at the half. On the plus side, Mignolet stopped the first shot on target. So that's something very rare and needs to be applauded.

Our build-up play is much better to start the second half. Henderson was picked out on a nifty little through ball, but was incorrectly called offside. Moments later Coutinho and Moreno combine to create a shot, and then Milner just misses picking out Sturridge on a dangerous cross. A more sharper Sturridge would have put that chance away.Whatever was said at halftime seems to be working so far.

Augsburg produce some very sloppy defending on a free kick, which Kolo Toure fails to head home, unfortunately, the ping-ponging ball refuses to cross the line, and the score remains tied.

Origi on for Sturridge. Another vital 67 minutes for our best striker since his return to fitness.

After a promising start to the half, we are looking out of ideas. Augsburg haven't seen as much of the ball in the second half, but they've remained dangerous on the counter attack.

Ibe on for Milner, whose first involvement is to dribble a ball into a defender and over the touchline for a goal kick. Not the greatest start for our young winger this evening.

Ibe then takes a tame shot which goes through to the keeper. From the resulting counter attack Augsburg go close as Ji drives a low shot off the outside of the near post. He had Mignolet well beat, and again, we are lucky to not go behind.

The predictable shot from Coutinho who comes inside from the left and tries a late shot as frustration justifiably mounts as the 90 minute mark approaches.

Man of the Match – Sakho

Never put a foot wrong and provided solid cover for Toure when required. With the rest of the defence will be happy with the clean sheet

Special mention – Kolo Toure – solid performance but is in reality 4^th choice centre back and should be going to another club from next season.

Augsburg (4-2-3-1): Hitz, Stafylidis, Klavan, Janker, Verhaegh, Altintop (Koo 86), Feulner, Kohr, Werner (Ji 80), Esswein, Bobadilla, (Caiuby 23).

Subs not used: Opare, Gelios, Max, Thommy.

Booked: Janker, Werner, Kohr, Feulner

Liverpool (4-3-3): Mignolet, Clyne, Toure, Sakho, Moreno, Henderson, Can, Milner (Ibe 80), Coutinho, Firmino, Sturridge (Origi 67)

Subs not used: Ward, Randall, Caulker, Lucas, Benteke 

Booked: Moreno 

Referee: David Borbalan (Spain)

Full Time: There are no easy games at this stage of the competition, but this will still be a disappointing result. Aside from a brief spell to start the second half, this side looked more likely to concede than to score. Very disappointing performance from Can and Henderson in my opinion this is a game they should be controlling and dominating but both players failed to do so.

An away draw isn't the worst, but the lack of goals will mean no margin of error when the tie resumes at Anfield next week. FC Midtjylland just served up a warning to English squads who think they can just stroll through to the next round. We will need to be at their best to be able to get the result at Anfield next week.

Manager’s comments

"Had we won 1-0 or 3-0 nothing would have been decided. If we save power for the final we will lose Thursday and on Sunday.”

“We could have created more chances, that is clear,” conceded Klopp. “You can see when we played the wrong passes or made the wrong decisions, but you can say 0-0 is OK. There were a lot of chances with the counter-attack that were not necessary.

"This team have not played together too often. German teams are strong on the tactical side and offer no space. In the second half you could see the spaces we could use. If you play together more often and the players have more rhythm it’s better – and that is what we have to work on.”

Liverpool set Villa Park ablaze with stunning firepower

Liverpool inflicted Villa’s biggest defeat at home for 81 years and that the Villains were shambolic should take nothing away from a Klopp’s side who arrived full aware of the home sides fight for Premiership survival.

Surprisingly after his midweek stint Daniel Sturridge started up alongside Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino in a fluid looking front three with the luckless Christian Bentenke returning to bench duty. 

The first fifteen minutes may have been relatively uneventful, but that was the calm before the storm. 

On sixteen minutes Coutinho drifted out to the left and with very little pressure was left to curl the ball on to the head of Daniel Sturridge who in predator like fashion ghosted in between Lescott and Okore to head beyond Bunn in to the corner of the net.   It was Sturridge third against Villa this season and his first away League goal in nearly two years. 

Firmino and Coutinho were being given the freedom of Villa Park interchanging at will with the home side seemingly unwilling to learn from Coutinho’s assist for the first goal.

In a bid to finally show some fight Okore gave away a silly free-kick out on the left impeding Coutinho.  Ex-Villain James Milner whipped in the resultant dead ball over Sakho and the challenging Lescott leaving Bunn little chance to anticipate as the ball floated on by into the corner of the net.

Liverpool were on fire enjoying the great oceans of space offered by the ineffective Villa midfield and Henderson came close to putting Liverpool further ahead.  Firmino expertly found Milner at the far stick and with apparently light years to find Henderson to head down only for his captain to see his shot diverted wide from close in.

Chances came and went before half-time.  Moreno combining with Firmino failed to connected fully on a shot at full stretch inside the six- yard box and then Sturridge’s shot was brilliantly saved by Bunn the only Villa player earning his wage. 

Villa with boos still ringing in their ears from some of the faithful attempted to get back on track in the second-half with Bacuna’s shot’s coming off Mignolet with the keeper grabbing the ball at the second attempt. 

Liverpool returned back on point with both full-backs marauding down the flanks. 

If the game wasn’t considered over after Milner’s goal it was certainly over as contest in the fifty-eighth minute when Can nipped in ahead of Bacuna before passing to Firmino who in turn return passed back to the West German International to brilliantly shoot into the corner of net the leaving the iron wrists of Bunn no chance. 

It was a goal that Emre Can has been promising to deliver for some time and one suspects in may just be the type of goal that will become his trademark in future years. 

The goal was also the signal for Daniel Sturridge to take his leave, surprisingly not for Bentenke, but his international colleague Origi.  If Christian Benteke is still a Liverpool player next season Jurgen Klopp is certainly given us no indication. 

As if to validate his decision, only a minute later Origi showed a decisive burst of pace to motor between the two central defenders before slipping the ball beyond the unfortunate Bunn.

Villa were in disarray and the fifth wouldn’t be far away.  Nathanial Clyne was allowed to saunter into the area and fire off one shot which was saved by Bunn only to have enough time to get to his feet and tap the ball home. 

Five-nil up and Christian Bentenke languishing on the bench - Kevin Stewart came on to replace Coutinho. 

It got even worse for Villa.  So bad in fact, that the unchallenged Kolo Toure stood in the middle of the penalty area to nod home Henderson’s pacey corner.

 Bentenke finally made his belated entrance, but the party was already over. 

Man of the Match:  Philippe Coutinho – given the time and space to mow down Villa on St Valentine’s Day with educated right boot. 

Critical eye:  The returning Daniel Sturridge gives Liverpool a potent force up front and finally a striker who thrives on playing on the last man.   If the Liverpool medical team can keep him fit, then this is season which still has some potential for success. 

Origi confidence levels have risen exponentially since his Capital One  hat-trick against Southampton adds extra depth to the Liverpool squad at a critical time of the season as we go in the search of silverware.

Teams:

Liverpool: 22 Simon Mignolet, 2 Nathaniel, 4 Kolo Toure, 17 Mamadou Sakho, 18 Alberto Moreno, 7 James Milner, 14 Jordan Henderson, 23 Emre Can, 10 Philippe Coutinho (Kevin Stewart – 66 mins), Daniel Sturridge (Divock Origi – 62 mins), Roberto Firmino (Christian Bentenke – 74 mins)

Subs: 9 Bentenke, 18 Steven Caulker, 27 Divock Origi, 33 Jordon Ibe, 35 Kevin Stewart, 38 Jon Flanagan, 54 Danny Ward

Aston Villa: 31 Mark Bunn, 4 Micah Richards (Alan Hutton – 85 mins), 5 Jores Okore, 16 Joleon Lescott, 43 Aly Cissokho, 7 Leandro Bacuna (Jordan Lyden – 66 mins), 15 Ashley Westwood, 8 Idrissa Gueye, 17 Jordan Veretout, 25 Carles Gil, 11 Gabriel Agbonlahor (Scott Sinclair – 58 mins)

Subs: 1 Brad Guzan, 6 Ciaran Clark, 9 Scott Sinclair, 18 Kieran Richardson, 21 Alan Hutton, 38 Jordan Lyden, 45 Kienan Davis

Referee: Neil Swarbrick

Attendance: 35,798

Ogbonna delivers late late extra time hammer blow to Liverpool’s FA cup dream - West Ham 2 Liverpool 1

West Ham 2 Liverpool 1

Blog by David Douglas (dedlfc)

Pre-match: We again go into a match with our out of form Mignolet in goal after bringing back loanee Danny Ward from his impressive loan spell at Aberdeen but amazingly have not even given him a game. He again sits on the bench where it may have benefitted us longer term to have left him out on loan playing every week at Aberdeen. The very talented Chirivella gets his first senior start for us. Nice to see Flanagan get another game again, and hopefully Sturridge and/or Origi can get back in action. West Ham have put out a pretty strong side, but that didn't stop us last time!
 

We start out on the front foot during the opening spell. Teixeira and Coutinho have shown some decent interplay. Brad Smith put in what should have been a dangerous cross, but Ibe was slow to respond and the ball was cleared without worrying the Hammers too much. Ibe then put in Benteke a few minutes later, who seemed legitimately lost and confused about being alone in the box. He immediately squared it to a West Ham defender, crisis averted.

Coutinho puts in too consecutive excellent corners, both of which found Benteke at the back post. Neither led to a goal, but it was nice to see! Just don’t understand how a striker (Beneteke) with a 1 goal out of 2 games strike rate throughout his career doesn’t do a near post run when a ball is crossed.

Because none of our attacks goes unpunished, the Hammers nearly score on the counter. The strike is deflected off Lucas and off the near post. Despite being the best side so far, we are lucky to still be on level terms.

Brad Smith then provides a brilliant overlap and produces a cross flashed across the 6-yard box. The ball passes both a stationary Benteke and an unprepared Ibe and the chance is gone. Should definitely have been 1-0 there. 

Minutes later the impressive offensively Smith overlaps to great effect again, his errant cross bounces to a wide open Teixeira who drags his shot wide. All of these great missed chances are going to be much more painful to remember if West Ham score on their first shot on target as is our usual Achilles heel recently.

Coutinho pounces on an errant pass and sets off a 3-on-2 break away. His pass to Benteke is deep, but the big Belgian cuts it back to Coutinho who duly hits the upright – very unlucky!

Payet hits the post from a free kick, and--surprise!--Mignolet makes a save on the rebound. Replays show that Migs might have just have got a finger to the initial free kick to touch it onto the post. Crazy game this, West Ham 0, Liverpool 0, Goalpost 3. 

GOAL. As per usual when we are in control of a game we then proceed to conceded the first goal of the game, you just had a feeling this was coming! Cross from West Ham’s left wing gets a deflection and finds Antonio at the back post, who volleys it home. 1-0 to the Hammers. Brad Smith who has been excellent going forward was out of position defensively (maybe due to the deflection) to stop the cross from finding Antonio for that goal.

Halftime: An otherwise good first half undone by the Hammers breaking the deadlock right before stoppage time. The good news is that Liverpool have looked very lively so far, though, to be fair, both sides have had their chances. Benteke has had three free headers in the box off corners, and failed to score on any of them. Brad Smith might have been to blame for leaving Antonio unmarked on the goal, but conversely, he should probably have two assists if we had attacking players attacking dangerous areas where crosses should be going. 

Early in the second half we get a free kick through good hold up play from Benteke in a dangerous area. Too bad we don't have a kicker who can score from a direct free kick!!

GOAL! Never mind! Coutinho cheekily hits the ball under the wall, and the free kick rolls into the back of the net. We're back on level terms, 1-1. Welcome back to our little magician!!!

Brad Smith with another excellent cross into the box. And for the umpteenth time, no one attacking the near or far posts. It is something that needs to be worked at.

Flappy Waffles is back. Mignolet comes way out of goal and makes a real mess of an attempted catch. Somehow we're not punished for that. We probably should have been punished for that. He is such a poor keeper it is shocking he has been given a five year contract to reward failure.

The moment then arrives our best player Sturridge finally makes an appearance as a sub returning to the fold after his two month injury absence alongside Origi in place of Teixeira and Coutinho. 

Our manager Jurgen Klopp said he was going to be calm today after his emergency appendix operation at the weekend but that was short-lived as he starts berating the 4th official, as you do. Our manager is a gem – one of a kind !!!

Ilori gets away with a near-certain penalty. Skrtel must have been teaching the youngster the dark arts of shirt pulling but like his mentor Skrtel he gets away scot free.

Scary moment for football after Kouyate stays down after a head-to-head collision with Flanagan. He walks off the pitch on his own, but looks thoroughly concussed. Our old player pony-tailed Andy Carroll comes on. 

Already Sturridge and Origi showing more understanding of each others movements than Benteke and the rest of the team for the whole season. Sturridge nearly puts Origi in on goal, but the pass is just beyond him. 

Benteke gets close with a free kick, but the shot is saved with a diving effort from Randolph.

Kevin Stewart walks off a leg-breaking tackle. He is as tough as nails. Reminds me of our former player Paul Stewart (no relation) 

Full time: It's an all around good game, with both sides going for it. We look so threatening with Origi, Sturridge and Benteke up front. 

Extra Time: Benteke misses two consecutive HUGE chances. On the first he pulls a volley just wide of the mark when a shot on target would have produced a certain goal. On the second, he's set free on a 1v1 and hits it straight at the keeper. Hugely disappointing, and it could mean the game. 

Milner comes on for Chirivella, surely with a look ahead to the penalty shoot out.

Sturridge goes for goal, and narrowly misses the top right corner.

As is usually the case in these extended affairs, the players look absolutely exhausted as the match wears on. Lots of sloppy play, and if a goal is scored on either side it'll likely be the result of a mistake, not a moment of inspiration.

GOAL. West Ham win it at the death. On a set play, no less with them being rewarded the free kick for a foul which wasn’t a foul by the otherwise outstanding Lucas, referee Roger East again being dictated to by the raucous West Ham crowd. Ogbonna raising highest above the LFC defenders to head home. The disappointing thing about the goal was the hunger and desire came from the West Ham player rather than from our players to stop the free kick threat. This game could have gone either way, unfortunately it didn't go ours tonight.

Man of the match – Lucas Leiva -He was outstanding at the back marshalling and cajoling and encouraging his team mates throughout and displaying the qualities you expect from a LFC captain.

Special mentions – Daniel Sturridge – When he came on you could see why we are desperate for him to play – he was head and shoulders our best attacking player and produced one dribble that was just magical. I would now play him against Aston Villa.

Positives – This season the youngsters have been given a chance which each of them have grabbed with both hands and all of them should count themselves unlucky not to be part of our future plans as they are all a credit to the club. Full back Smith, centre back Ilori and Midfielders Brannagan/Stewart being the standout youngsters.

Negatives – Mignolet being played despite bringing back Ward on loan – Ward will not get any games so it was no point bringing him back to the club. Benteke has cost us our place in the next round and at £32 million has now proved to be a costly mistake in the transfer window again. We may have to cut our losses again in the summer as he just doesn’t produce the goals when you most need them – that’s the difference between a top striker and a good striker. 

I am convinced if Sturridge had the chances that Benteke had today we would now be through to a tough away fixture in the 5^th round away to Blackburn but unfortunately we are now out of the FA Cup for another year – mainly due to the continued missed opportunities of Benteke.

Teams:

West Ham: Randolph, O'Brien(Moses 83 mins), Reid (Collins 65), Ogbonna, Cresswell, Kouyate(Carroll 75), Noble, Obiang, Antonio,Valencia, Payet

Subs: Adrian, Oxford, Cullen, Parfitt-Williams

Booked: Antonio 

Goal: Antonio 45, Ogbonna 120 

Liverpool: Mignolet, Flanagan, Stewart, Tiago Ilori, Smith, Teixeira (Origi 59), Lucas, Chirivella (Milner 101), Ibe, Benteke, Coutinho(Sturridge 59)

Subs not used: Jose Enrique, Henderson, Ward, Randall

Booked: Stewart 

Goal: Coutinho 48 

Referee: Roger East

Attendance: 34,433 

Manager’s comments:-

“I thought they could play like this so I’m not surprised. But the only reason we were here tonight was to win.
“We did a lot of things really well. But the first real chance was a goal for West Ham. Our goal was great, a high-quality goal of Phil Coutinho.
“We changed really offensively and still did well and created chances. It was a big fight. We couldn’t use our chances, they got a free-kick without a foul and we conceded a goal. Now we go home.
“We don’t have to talk about morale, we showed morale and everything is OK with these boys. If you go through the squad tonight, it’s a great game.
“Flanno was out for 18 months and played 120 minutes tonight – great. Tiago Ilori was at Aston Villa and not in the squad, not really a second-team player, and played really well tonight.
“Next to him, Lucas Leiva was not in his position and played really well. Brad Smith, four or five weeks ago he wasn’t at the club. The double-six [Pedro Chirivella and Kevin Stewart] are very young and were really good.
“Ibe is not in the best moment of the season but was really fighting in the game, Christian the same, fighting in the game. Phil, second time injured – really fighting, a great goal and good play. Everything was good with Joao Teixeira. That’s really good.
“But the only reason we were here was to go into the next round and so we are disappointed. That’s how it is.”
He continued: “We created chances, but we didn’t score goals – that’s the major mistake you can make in football. But it’s better to create chances and to miss than to not create chances.
“If you want, we can see positives. We are Liverpool FC and in this moment it’s not the sunniest side – a 2-0 lead [lost against Sunderland], manager in hospital, out of the FA Cup, but tomorrow when we get up, the sun will shine.
“If we want at Liverpool, all together, then we can take a lot of positive things out of this game and make the next step. We can rest a lot of players now because we will have the first matchday – I don’t know when it is – when we are not involved.
“We have to use the time, we have to take the time, we have to make steps. That’s what we’ve done until now. We don’t like our results too much, to be honest, but it is the difficult way we have to go and in the end, it can be the right way.
“I’m OK, I would have gone to the next round, it didn’t work, so let’s carry on.”
One obvious positive to take from the evening was the return to action of Daniel Sturridge, who was introduced on the hour to end his spell on the sidelines since December.
Asked whether the No.15 will be in contention for a start at Aston Villa on Sunday, Klopp said: “We have to talk first with Daniel, the doctor and all of the medical staff before I make a decision about this.
“The game was a little bit longer than I thought because I thought we could decide it after 90 minutes, but we didn’t so it was [another] 30 minutes plus. We will see.
“It was great [to have Sturridge back], everybody saw it. Divock Origi is back, Philippe Coutinho is back, so that’s good, but we need consistency in the line-up.”
Two great opportunities fell to Christian Benteke in extra-time but the Belgian dragged one wide and saw the other saved by West Ham goalkeeper Darren Randolph as he ran through one-on-one.
Klopp said: “Ask 80 to 90 per cent of all strikers in the world – high-quality, low-quality, no-quality – they will tell you they’ve had times like this.
“It’s like it is and you have to carry on. You have to go on, there’s no other situation. All the people in the world want the easy goal, but then the easy goal doesn’t help, so you have to play, you have to improve, you have to want to do all the things – that’s how it always is. It’s no different for Christian.
“But tonight, it was a really good game without the maximum finish, but he did a lot, he worked a lot, so it was a big step – that’s good for us and that’s good for him.”

Good to see our manager back our players but time is fast running out for a few of them !!!