Malik Waqar
Liverpool overturned a first leg deficit to reach the League Cup final with a 4-0 win over Tottenham on Thursday, ramping up the pressure on Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou.
Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai and Virgil van Dijk were on target for the Reds, who will face Newcastle at Wembley on March 16 for the first silverware of the English season.
Liverpool remain on course for a quadruple in a dream debut season for Arne Slot.
They enjoy a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League, have cruised into the last 16 of the Champions League and visit Championship strugglers Plymouth in the FA cup fourth round on Sunday.
“To reach a final should always be special,” said Slot. “It was a very good performance from our side.”
Spurs’ trophy drought on the other hand goes on. Tottenham last lifted silverware in 2008 and Postecoglou now has one less opportunity to fulfil his promise of winning a trophy in his second season.
There is speculation the Australian could be shown the door if another goes awry away to Aston Villa in the FA Cup at the weekend with Spurs languishing 14th in the Premier League.
“We have given up a good opportunity tonight and we cannot shy away from that,” said Postecoglou. “They were by far better team. They were too good for us.”
Despite having more glamorous titles to win, Slot showed his desire to make the League Cup his first trophy as Liverpool boss by naming his strongest available team bar the usual rotation in goal for cup competitions as Caoimhin Kelleher replaced Alisson Becker.
New signing Kevin Danso was forced straight in to Tottenham’s injury-ravaged defence, while Mathys Tel also made an early debut off the bench after Richarlison hobbled off injured.
Liverpool had scored four in each of the previous two meetings between the sides at Anfield and repeated that feat to make light of their 1-0 first leg defeat in north London last month.
The home side had taken the first quarter to find their stride but the pressure built after Szoboszlai ran offside before sweeping home Salah’s pass.
From the Egyptian’s next delivery into the box, Spurs did not escape as Gakpo drilled in first time to move clear as the top scorer in this season’s competition with five goals.
Antonin Kinsky kept Salah waiting for his goal with a fine save moments later, but at the other end of the field Richarlison lay prone to leave Postecoglou’s team further depleted.
Already without record signing Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson, James Maddison, Timo Werner and Wilson Odobert in attacking areas, Tottenham never looked capable of mounting the threat they needed to survive the Liverpool onslaught.
The decisive blow came five minutes into the second half when Kinsky rushed off his line but was beaten to the ball by Darwin Nunez and caught the Uruguayan.
Salah ruthlessly dispatched the resulting penalty into the top corner for his 26th goal of the season.
Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch fired off the post as Liverpool put their foot down to kill the tie off.
The killer third goal came 15 minutes from time when Connor Bradley, who excelled in the absence of the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold, played in Szoboszlai to slot home.
Van Dijk then exposed Spurs’ struggles defending set-pieces by heading in the fourth from a corner to rub salt in the visitors’ wounds.
Newcastle are eying an end to their own 56-year wait for a major trophy after an impressive 4-0 humbling of Arsenal on aggregate in the other semi-final.
But the Magpies have the unenviable task of stopping Slot’s juggernaut if they are to do so.
