Liverpool down dogged Preston as Klopp’s reserves made to work at Deepdale - Leicester, Brentford also through

AP
Marc Mayo27 October 2021

Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino kept Liverpool’s Carabao Cup campaign alive with the goals in a 2-0 win over Preston.

Jurgen Klopp made 11 changes to ensure the stars who demolished Manchester United were given the night off.

Championship club Preston made the Reds work at Deepdale and it was the visitors’ first shot on target when Minamino turned home Neco Williams’ 62nd-minute cross for the lead.

Origi flicked in a second six minutes from time, but the gap between Klopp’s ruthless stars and their more modest back-ups was obvious as Liverpool only occasionally bared their teeth against a side 19th in the Championship and sporting several changes of their own.

Klopp handed a debut to teenager Harvey Blair while Tyler Morton got his first start but there was also plenty of experience as Joel Matip returned to partner Joe Gomez in defence.

Preston threatened when Tom Barkhuizen cut inside Matip before firing over, then Ryan Ledson tried an ambitious volley from the edge of the area which sailed over. Brad Potts was the next to escape Matip but his rising shot was pushed over by Adrian.

The best chance came in the 28th minute. After Gomez squandered possession Ali McCann put it on a plate for Sean Maguire, only to see Adrian make a superb point-blank save. The ball fell invitingly for Ledson, but his shot struck Williams in the face on the line before Potts blazed over.

Liverpool broke the deadlock with their first shot on target just after the hour. Williams, pushed forward by Bradley’s arrival, pulled the ball back for Minamino to flick it beyond the reach of Rudd and score his fifth Carabao Cup goal in as many appearances.

Preston seemed to sense their chance had gone as heads dropped, and Origi soon confirmed their fears as he scored his customary Carabao Cup goal - making it 11 in his 10 starts in the competition. When Kostas Tsimikas’ cross from deep struck the crossbar it bounced down for Williams. His shot was blocked but the ball sat up for Origi to flick in with an acrobatic twist of his leg.

Foxes In The Hunt

Elsewhere in the Carabao Cup, Leicester earned their quarter-final spot after being pushed all the way by Brighton.

Adam Webster and Enock Mwepu hit equalisers after Harvey Barnes and Ademola Lookman’s goals - and it was Mwepu denied by Danny Ward for the decisive penalty.

Brentford also qualified thanks to a 2-1 win at Stoke, Sergi Canos and Ivan Toney scoring in the first-half before Romaine Sawyers got one back against his old club.

Additional reporting from PA Media.

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