Liverpool and Chelsea delivered a burst of late first-half action in their Carabao Cup last 16 tie after trading penalty goals following a sluggish start at Anfield, as reported by 101 Great Goals.
Rogers Opens Scoring
The opening period of the cup match lacked quality and saw both managers heavily rotate their squads, with the two sides recording only one shot on target combined prior to the breakthrough. Chelsea capitalized in the 38th minute when Ryan Gravenberch made a careless sliding challenge on Moises Caicedo inside the penalty area, granting the visitors a spot-kick. Premier League record signing Rogers took the penalty and placed his shot into the top-right corner with precise accuracy.
Gakpo Levels
Chelsea’s lead proved short-lived as they conceded an avoidable penalty shortly after when a shot following a corner struck the fingertips of Wesley Fofana. Cody Gakpo stepped forward for the hosts and equalized by driving his penalty firmly into the bottom-left corner past the goalkeeper.
Match Details and History
The fixture marks the 202nd meeting between the two clubs across all competitions, with Liverpool holding 87 victories compared to Chelsea’s 67. The teams previously met in the EFL Cup finals of 2022 and 2024. For Liverpool, this represents their eighth tie against a London opponent in their last 12 matches in this competition. Liverpool’s last three League Cup defeats at Anfield all came against London clubs, specifically Chelsea in 2018-19, Arsenal on penalties in 2020-21, and Crystal Palace in 2025-26.
Team News
Liverpool made extensive changes, retaining only Ronald Araujo, Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, and Cody Gakpo from the starting lineup that faced Brighton. Youngsters James McConnell, Trey Nyoni, Rio Ngumoha, and Lewis Koumas were handed starts, while Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong, and Hugo Ekitike remained sidelined. Liverpool’s starting XI featured Mamardashvili, Gomez, Araujo, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, McConnell, Gravenberch, Nyoni, Gakpo, Ngumoha, and Koumas.
Chelsea made four changes from the side that played Spurs, bringing in Wesley Fofana, Malo Gusto, Romeo Lavia, and Danny Welbeck. Levi Colwill, Jorrel Hato, and Geovany Quenda dropped out, while Cole Palmer missed the match through suspension. João Pedro was unavailable for a few weeks due to a knee injury, and goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez remained absent, allowing Mike Penders to retain his place in goal. Chelsea’s starting lineup included Penders, Acheampong, Fofana, Lacroix, Gusto, Neto, Caicedo, Lavia, Henderson, Rogers, and Welbeck.
