A record 15th League Cup Final for Liverpool will see them play Newcastle United after Arne Slot’s men demolished Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 at Anfield. Goals from Cody Gapko, Mo Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai and a towering header in front of the Kop from the imperious Virgil Van Djik, secured a trip to Wembley in March.
Spurs arrived at Anfield after a 1-0 win in the first leg bu, in truth, never got near a Liverpool side that were ‘at it’ from the first whistle to the last. Man of the Match Gakpo, opening the scoring just after the half hour mark after finding the net at the far post following an assist from Salah. However, it was surprising that it took that long. Liverpool hounded Spurs and from minute one the result of the tie never looked in doubt, even though it was 1-1 on aggregate at half-time.
Kicking towards the Kop in the second half, Liverpool took control of the tie with a ruthless spot kick from Salah. Darwin Nunez had been felled in the penalty box by a Spurs goalkeeper who was jittery throughout, and the Egyptian hammered the ball high in to the net. If anything, with almost 40 minutes remaining, Liverpool upped the intensity. Tottenham were being suffocated by a great team performance and, when Szoboszlai put his side three up following a sweeping move involving Conor Bradley, who got the assist, Wembley was a foregone conclusion.
At 3-0 down, and knowing the tie had gone, Spurs continued to give the ball away, never threatening a goal, and frankly, they were abject. 3-0 became 4-0 via a fantastic header from the captain, and though Son, a player who in the past has caused Liverpool some problems, struck the bar in the final moments, his best days are well behind him. Meanwhile, his team, with not a single shot on target, were simply blown away.
So Slot takes Liverpool to Wembley for the first time, and it’s set to be a throw back to the 1974 FA Cup Final. That day, Bill Shankly’s last in charge, ended 3-0 to Liverpool. It’s why I’m a red, though up against Isak, who has already scored against Slot’s men this season, it’ll surely be a more difficult proposition, than that glorious day in May, more than 50 years ago.
