Liverpool 2-0 Leeds United: Matchday blog
Liverpool beat Leeds United in the fifth round of the EFL Cup at Anfield, with Divock Origi and Ben Woodburn on the mark late on.
Scroll down for the story of the game.
Headlines...
Young goal-getters
So, Ben Woodburn become LFC's youngest scorer of all time with his strike tonight - but how does the top six of that particular list look?
Here are all your match stats from tonight's win over Leeds United...
Klopp: "Leeds are strong, but they could not show how strong they are tonight."
Klopp on Ben Woodburn: "It was not too hard - I would've scored it!"
The manager's tongue is firmly in cheek there!
Jürgen Klopp is in for his post-match press conference
Boss: "We had a mix of young and experienced players tonight. We always respect this competition."
Full Time
That's it, and Liverpool are into the EFL Cup semi-finals!
Just as he did at the weekend against Sunderland, Divock Origi broke the deadlock with around 15 minutes to play, before Anfield witnessed a moment of history.
Ben Woodburn's Kop-end strike in the 80th minute made him the Reds' youngest ever goalscorer - the 17-year-old taking a record held for nearly 20 years by a certain Michael Owen.
Substitution
Second change for Liverpool, as Marko Grujic comes on for the scorer of the Reds' first goal, Divock Origi.
Ben Woodburn is now Liverpool's youngest ever goalscorer, breaking Michael Owen's record, set in May 1997.
The Welsh youngster only turned 17 last month.
Goal
GOAL FOR LIVERPOOL!!
Ben Woodburn makes it 2-0 with his first senior goal for the Reds.
The 17-year-old smashes high into the Kop-end net from close range after some good, unselfish work from Gini Wijnaldum.
What a moment for the teenager!
Goal
GOAL FOR LIVERPOOL!
Divock Origi breaks the deadlock with a smart sliding finish at the near post from a brilliant cross by Trent Alexander-Arnold.
1-0 to the Reds!
Wijnaldum hits the post
Sadio Mane plays Gini Wijnaldum in down the right, the Dutch midfielder beats Silvestri with a low shot across the goalkeeper, only to be denied by the inside of the post.
Substitution
First change for Liverpool, as Ben Woodburn comes on to replace Kevin Stewart
Leeds go close again
This time it's their captain Kyle Bartley who heads a corner wide, before Mignolet gets down well to save Roofe's low shot.
Substitution
Third and final change for Leeds, as Chris Wood replaces Stuart Dallas
Reds captain Lucas Leiva surges forward from the back and passes to Emre Can, whose shot is deflected straight into the arms of Marco Silvestri.
Better from Liverpool after the scare of nearly going behind.
Yellow Card
Leeds' Souleymane Doukara is booked for a foul on Kevin Stewart
Leeds hit the post
Kevin Stewart is guilty of overplaying at the back and Kemar Roofe's curling shot from 20 yards dips over Simon Mignolet and against the inside of the post.
Liverpool begin the second half on the front foot, with Alberto Moreno having their first attempt of the half.
The left-back's shot from range goes well wide, though.
Kick-Off
And Divock Origi gets the game back underway at Anfield.
Substitution
Another change for the visitors as Luke Ayling replaces Liam Cooper.
Half Time
Goalless at the break
A first-half featuring few chances at either end is brought to a close by referee Andre Marriner.
Gini Wijnaldum and Emre Can had Liverpool's only attempts on goal of note.
Tonight's match was preceded by an impeccably-observed moment of silence to remember those who lost their lives in today's tragic plane crash in Colombia.
You can watch Anfield pay its respects by clicking play on the video below.
Not much in the way of goalmouth action at either end so far tonight, but that was a nervy moment for the home fans.
Kalvin Phillips' shot was deflected wide by Lucas Leiva, with Simon Mignolet wrong-footed.
Still goalless at Anfield, as the half-time break draws closer.
Close!
Emre Can races on to an underhit backpass, but can only stab his effort wide after beating Marco Silvestri to the ball.
Substitution
Leeds make the first change of the evening, with Kalvin Phillips replacing the injured Eunan O'Kane.
Action shot
Emre Can battles with Leeds' Ronaldo Vieira
Free Kick
Moreno delivers from the right
The Spaniard's cross is cleared, but Trent Alexander-Arnold picks up the pieces and sends an excellent ball into the box that just evades Lucas Leiva at the back post.
Klavan tries his luck from distance...
...and it goes wide. Very, very wide.
Roofe tests Mignolet, before Gini goes close
A long-range effort from Kemar Roofe is comfortably saved by Simon Mignolet, before Georginio Wijnaldum's clever side-footed shot is tipped over by Marco Silvestri at the other end.
An entertaining, high-tempo start to the game here.
Corner
Good pressure from the Reds
A period of possession from the hosts ends with Ovie Ejaria winning a corner, but Alberto Moreno's inswinging delivery is cleared.
Mignolet saves from Sacko
An early chance for Leeds, but Simon Mignolet gets down well to deny Hadi Sacko as he bore down on goal.
Kick-Off
After a moment of silence in remembrance of those who tragically lost their lives in Colombia today, Leeds get us under way at Anfield.
The visitors are attacking the Kop end in the first half.
Inside the dressing room...
Jürgen and his players have arrived at Anfield...
As has this man...
COUTINHO UPDATE
Jürgen Klopp has offered an update on the fitness of Philippe Coutinho.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live before tonight's match, the Liverpool boss said he expects to be without the Brazilian for around five weeks due to the ankle injury he sustained at the weekend.
Coutinho was stretchered off in the first half of the Reds' 2-0 Premier League victory over Sunderland.
TEAM NEWS
Jürgen Klopp makes eight changes to his starting line-up for tonight’s game – with Divock Origi leading the line and Ovie Ejaria, Kevin Stewart and Trent Alexander-Arnold again getting a chance in the EFL Cup.
Lucas Leiva captains the side, while Ben Woodburn is on the bench.
Liverpool team in full: Mignolet, Alexander-Arnold, Lucas, Klavan, Moreno, Stewart, Wijnaldum, Can, Ejaria, Mane, Origi.
Substitutes: Karius, Lovren, Clyne, Henderson, Milner, Grujic, Woodburn
From the boss...
"Leeds are one of the 'great teams' of England I believe - big history, big support. I know this because James Milner always tells me, again and again and again. Millie has told me all the great things about this club and this city - even when I do not ask him."
On this day...
Back on a similarly cold winter's eve in 2000, Liverpool visited Stoke City in the fourth round of the League Cup...and won 8-0.
A Robbie Fowler hat-trick and goals from Christian Ziege, Vladimir Smicer, Markus Babbel, Sami Hyypia and Danny Murphy did the damage at the Britannia Stadium that night. Those who were there may remember the scoreboard registering nine goals for the visitors by the end.
Meanwhile, November 29 has other connotations for Fowler - it was on this day, one year later, he completed a transfer to tonight's opponents Leeds United. He did, of course, return to Anfield in 2006 for a second spell.
Today's date is also special for another particular reason - a certain Steven Gerrard made his senior debut for Liverpool back in 1998...
A minute's silence will be observed prior to kick-off at Anfield this evening, as a mark of respect following the tragic plane crash in Colombia on Tuesday morning. 75 people lost their lives, including players and officials of Brazilian football club Chapecoense.
Anfield is ready
There's nothing quite like nights under the floodlights here, is there? The ground is just starting to become active now as we near kick-off in the tie with Leeds. We'll have team news for you at 6.30pm GMT.
Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes on matchday at Anfield? Well, wonder no more - our cameras were in the areas off-limits to the public throughout Saturday's win over Sunderland to bring you this brilliant video below...
Stats amazing!
Do you remember the last time Liverpool met Leeds in the League Cup?
Click here to remind yourself of the details of that game and read 10 more facts and figures ahead of tonight's match.
Shouting the odds
Here's how our friends at BETVICTOR think tonight might go...
Liverpool 3/10
Draw 5/1
Leeds United 19/2
Weather
Finally
It's time for our traditional weather update ahead of the big game.
It's bright and clear in Liverpool today which means temperatures are going to be pretty low - two degrees celsius, to be exact - when kick-off comes around this evening.
Wrap up warm if you're heading to Anfield, but it doesn't look like you'll need an umbrella!
This is Anfield
A teaser for Jürgen Klopp's programme notes can be found here.
In them, he discusses why Divock Origi's late goal against Sunderland meant so much to him.
If you're looking for the programme later, here it is...
Simon says
We sat down with Reds goalkeeper Simon Mignolet ahead of his return to the starting line-up for tonight's game and he spoke of the importance of focusing on the task at hand.
"You can’t really think about [winning] it yet. Leeds is going to be a very tough fixture. We have to get ourselves in the right frame of mind to get the victory against them. Then we’ll see."
Read more here or, if you subscribe to LFCTV GO, watch the video embedded below.
Injury update
So, what are the chances of Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Daniel Sturridge or Adam Lallana featuring in tonight's game?
Jürgen Klopp issued an update on the quartet's fitness yesterday, which you can read here.
#MyLFCMatchdayImage
Another belter submitted by a fan for tonight's game.
Have one of your images picked out for our social media feeds by using the hashtag above in the build-up to any fixture!
Stats all, folks
If you take a look at our Opta widget below, you can see how the two teams have stacked up in the EFL Cup so far this season.
Here we go...
Good afternoon and welcome to Liverpoolfc.com's live matchday blog for this evening's EFL Cup quarter-final meeting with Leeds United.
The Reds host Championship opposition at Anfield as they bid to repeat last season's trip to the final of this competition - where they will no doubt hope to do one better.
And, as ever, we'll provide the best coverage of the game here with live updates, team news, goals as they go in, social media, player reaction and more. Don't go anywhere!
COUTINHO UPDATE
Jürgen Klopp has provided an update on the fitness of Philippe Coutinho.
In his pre-match interview with BBC Radio 5 live, the Liverpool boss said he expects the Brazilian to be out for around five weeks with the ankle injury he sustained on Saturday.
Coutinho was stretchered off in the first half of the Reds' 2-0 Premier League victory over Sunderland.