Liverpool takes on Bournemouth tonight, looking to move into the last eight of the competition. With Ben Doak only just back from injury, it remains to be seen whether Mohamed Salah will get the night off.
He’s certainly earned a rest — not that he is likely to want one. The Liverpool talisman has been in some of his best ever form, with only the VAR mistake at Spurs denying Salah 16 consecutive goal contributions, a Premier League record. Questions continue to be asked about his long-term future, with Saudi Arabia making no secret of its interest as his contract ticks towards its final 18 months. But in the here and now, he is leading by example as one of the senior heads in Jürgen Klopp’s ‘Liverpool 2.0’.
We asked Liverpool fan Nick Sapia a few questions about the Reds. On the agenda is tonight’s game, Salah’s future and a Klopp experiment that has caused much debate.
Bournemouth tonight. How big an opportunity is the Carabao Cup this season for Liverpool? The cups have been exciting this season because they’ve provided a platform for this new Liverpool side to find its footing, gain some confidence, and bring new players up to speed. Rather than having out-and-out youth players called up for the cup matches, we’re seeing the likes of Ryan Gravenberch, Jarell Quansah, and even Harvey Elliott step into the cup games — promising young talents who already have some serious Premier League experience.
There really isn’t a clear “A” team and “B” team; there’s just a lot of really talented players available to the manager. It speaks to the level of depth and talent this current team has, which means they should be able to challenge on all fronts. They should try to win this competition.
The path to the final is opening up nicely, as well — Manchester City is out, one of Manchester United or Newcastle will drop out this round, and Arsenal has a tricky fixture to deal with (West Ham away). This competition gets pooh-poohed at times, but there is also some validity to the idea that winning this can act as a springboard for the rest of the season like it did two years ago for the Reds. It would be nice to have some silverware in the cabinet in February, and I can only imagine what it would do for some of these new players
