Liverpool Echo

Is there VAR for Liverpool vs Tottenham Hotspur? Carabao Cup semi-final rules confirmed

Liverpool face Spurs at Anfield tonight for a nail-biting second-leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final

Anfield is set to witness a high-stakes showdown on Thursday night, with Liverpool chasing a crucial victory that would secure their spot at the final in Wembley next month as the Reds look to defend the Carabao Cup. They're poised to take on Tottenham Hotspur, with a narrow one-goal deficit to overturn from the first leg - thanks to Lucas Bergvall's contentious late decider in the first leg.

Reds boss Arne Slot is facing an uphill battle as he seeks to book his inaugural trip to what he dubs the "iconic" Wembley stadium, with the final potentially set to mark his fist trip to the "home of football" since taking the reins just months ago. While talking at the AXA Training Centre, Slot shared his aspirations: "If you go to England people are talking about Wembley as an iconic stadium, especially if it's a final. So you can be sure that we as a team want to win that game tomorrow to go to Wembley."

Nonetheless, they are up against a recently reinforced Spurs outfit, managed by Ange Postecoglou, who now has the likes of new assets Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso at his disposal. However, Postecoglou faces his own selection conundrum, with a lengthy list of injured players including Dominic Solanke, James Maddison, Guglielmo Viacrio, Brenndan Johnson, Destiny Odogie, Timo Werner, Wilson Odobert, and Radu Dragusin all sidelined for the clash.

Although with the score line so tight it is crucial that all the refereeing decisions are correctly made, the Liverpool Echo has taken a closer look at how VAR will be used in tonight's semi-final.

Is VAR in use for the Carabao Cup semi-finals?

VAR will be in use at Thursday night's Liverpool vs Tottenham Carabao Cup clash after last year's semi-final relied only on the on-pitch officials. This is because last year saw Championship side Middlesborough reaching the penultimate round, but with only Premier League teams reaching this year's final four the EFL made the decision to bring back the extra referee.

Although VAR will operate slightly differently to the top tier league, for the first time in English football, referee Craig Pawson will be required to announce a VAR decision over the speakers at the stadium.

The trial comes as part of a plan to increase clarity over VAR decisions in football. Should Pawson need an extra look at a decision, he will be required to announce exactly why he has come to his the view.

VAR was used in the first-leg clash, but as always Pawson will only be referred to the monitor by Michael Salisbury if there has been a clear and obvious error.

Spurs player down

You guessed it, another Spurs player has taken to the ground. This time it's Bissouma.

No surprise that he is quickly back to his feet after shaving a few seconds off the clock.

Salah over the bar

Salah volleys over from a difficult angle from Robertson's cross to the back post. Perhaps could have taken a touch given it fell to his right foot.

Way over

Salah connects with Robertson's cross to the back post but he can't keep his effort down.

Szoboszlai scores...offside

Szoboszlai scores but the offside flag goes up. Have just seen a quick replay and he was. Just.

Chance - brilliant work from Gakpo!

Excellent work from Gakpo to get away from two defenders and cross the ball for Nunez, whose header is straight at Kinsky.

Corner for Liverpool

Salah's pass across the face nearly trickles into the far corner after a wicked deflection inside the box. Corner for the Reds.

Unlucky break

Liverpool so unfortunate there on the break, Nunez finds Gakpo who almost places it into the path of Szoboszlai but it hits him on the backside and Spurs clear.

Unlucky!

Nunez clears the corner and Liverpool break at pace but Szoboszlai can't sort his feet out to profit on Gakpo's through-ball.

Nearly for Szoboszlai

Midfielder does well to drop the shoulder inside the box and work a yard for a shot, but his effort is blocked by one of the several Spurs shirts camped inside the 18-yard box.

Pressure on

Szoboszlai and Gravenberch both see shots blocked. Liverpool trying to keep the pressure on here. Decent start without any real chances.

Corner for Tottenham

Konate fails to clear a free-kick properly and hands the away side a corner.

Ouch

Not sure Davies having a cut to the head is a spoiling tactic - unless he's cut it himself after watching too much WWE in the 1990s (in nostaliga clips, obviously) - but it has stopped the rhythm of this game.

We've not even had 15 minutes yet but it feels like this could be a long night.

Treatment for Davies

The Tottenham Hotspur defender is being treated for a cut to the head.

Spurs taking their time

Boos around the Kop as Craig Pawson awards a foul on Kinsky. Spurs taking their time over it all. It happened when the goalkeeper failed to catch a corner. Just get a sense of the visitors looking to eat away at the clock as often as possible tonight...

All the tricks in the book

We've played less than 15 minutes here at Anfield and Tottenham are already wasting time. Strap yourselves in, it could be a long night.

Corner Liverpool

Bradley wins a corner after venturing into the box down the right.

Nunez down

Liverpool's No.9 appears to be in some discomfort on the ground and is being seen to by medics. Not quite sure what's happened there.

Chance!

Szoboszlai lays the ball off to Salah for a shot from inside the box but it's straight at Kinsky.

Early thoughts

Tottenham were never going to sit back and defend this lead, and sure enough they are pressing quite high so far.

They won't change the way they play because, well, they can't according to their manager.

Hmm. We shall see.

Richarlison down

Richarlison goes down after a tangle with Van Dijk. Fair to say the Anfield crowd was less than impressed with the theatrics of the former Everton forward.

Richarlison down

Richarlison down holding his face after a tangle with Van Dijk, looked innocuous, referee didn't even stop play initially. Kop now reminding the Spurs striker of his former Everton allegiances. I'm sure you can guess how they are doing that...

Underway

Richarlison gets us underway as You'll Never Walk Alone just about finishes. Atmosphere is electric here.

Drama off the field at Anfield

The monitor next to me and Theo is showing Eastenders instead of the match. I'll be able to tell you if that is a good thing or a bad thing in about 90 minutes.

Atmosphere building

Quite the atmosphere building here as the two teams line up ad exchange handshakes. Feels like the supporters believe this is a big night. Quite right, too. Semi-finals aren't to be sniffed at.

Kick-off on its way from Anfield...

Atmosphere

Things are starting to get loud inside Anfield.

Tottenham have the whole of the bottom tier of the Anfield Road Stand for the away support, and have been belting out a few tunes.

The Kop and the rest of the home fans have responded in kind.

Big night for Nunez

Feels like a big night for Darwin Nunez.

With Diogo Jota fit again and Luis Diaz playing well, he has to take these opportunities when he is in from the start. I suspect he will give young Archie Gray plenty to worry about tonight, particularly if Spurs play with a higher line than we usually see visiting defences play here.

Big night for Jones

It promises to be a big night for Curtis Jones. The 24-year-old will be hoping for a more memorable 90 minutes than that first leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last month.

Tottenham Hotspur double boost confirmed ahead of League Cup semi-final vs Liverpool

Tottenham Hotspur will be able to call on their two new January transfer window signings in the League Cup semi-final second leg at Liverpool on Thursday

Tottenham Hotspur will be able to call on their two new loan signings for their League Cup semi-final second leg at Liverpool on Thursday. The Londoners, who have been hit by injuries to their squad throughout the season, were busy during the transfer window and brought in both Kevin Danso and Mathys Tel on a temporary basis.

Centre-back Danso, a former Southampton player, has arrived from Lens for the remainder of the campaign, while teenage forward Tel has done likewise from Bayern Munich.

There had been uncertainty over whether the duo would be available for the Anfield clash against Liverpool given neither was signed before the tie started with the first leg in early January.

But the EFL have confirmed competition rules state both players would be available provided they registered in time in accordance with Premier League regulations, which is now the case.

Tottenham had already benefited from the transfer window opening at the start of the month with the signing of goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky from Slavia Prague.

The 21-year-old Czech made his debut in the first leg against Liverpool and put in a man-of-the-match performance as the Londoners earned a controversial 1-0 victory.

I know [my decision] but the goalkeepers (Alisson/Kelleher) don't know yet. I will tell them after this. One of the only things I don't understand here, everywhere around the world and Europe, we can take 23 players to the game, we play so many games here, so if you are able to you need a big squad, that seems fair. So to pick first XI is difficult but to tell people he's not even in the squad is harder, so I don't know why we don't have 23 for the games, nine subs is enough but to keep the dressing room going you need more than 20 players. For teams in Europe, you need more than 20, so why can't we we bring 23 instead of 20? That is the rule so it is a difficult decision. To leave someone out who works every day and wants to be involved."

I will be happy if that player (No.9) becomes both. I want him to be a facilitator - nice word! - and score goals himself. Lucho played his part for Cody to win a penalty against Bournemouth, so in the end, you want attackers, midfielders to score, we need to get goals from many positions, including centre-backs who can score from set-pieces as well. So we work on the pitch and give them feedback to make the team better. The No.9 should be a facilitator and also score goals."

Now you tell me, you are right it is unusual [to have such a space between legs]. Not that it matters a lot but if you play one week later than normal you face the exact team again but with all the injuries Spurs had last time, it would have been an advantage for us but we still lost against the ones who were fit. We face two different players, I wonder if Van de Ven can play, he has a big impact. So it might change the quality of the team and we already couldn't win, so it will be difficult. But we will be better than the last time too.

"He (Bradley) played against Spurs back then too. Every game and session there is something to learn and if not, it wasn't a good session from me. I think we played PSV a good game with the team who hardly ever played and we did concede three goals. It's something on the feedback we gave. He wasn't involved in every goal but he was in one in my opinion. He wasn't aggressive enough which led to the third goal."

Every game we play we work on our habits and we have to do as much right as we can and every time after the session or the game, we have a meeting where we tell them what we did well and what we can improve to come as close as we can to a perfect game at the end of the season. It's the same, Forest away, Brentford...we learn after every game becayse we are faced with different challenges.

"I don't think I have to prepare them different to any other game, from now on until the end of the season and as long as Liverpool exists, you need to win the game. Tomorrow, Sunday, Wednesday...So even if we're 1-0 down we try to win this. We were quite close in the first leg until the last few seconds, down to 10 and conceded a goal but nothing changes for this game. If you wear this shirt, if you play at Anfield; there's only one thing expected of you: to win the game."

I see the replays and that is not available for fans, so if the fans like it then let's do this. I wonder if we are all going to like it. It's not neccessary but let's see if the fans like it. I was there in the Spurs stadium, it was so obvious it wasn't needed to announce it was offside. I was more interested in why he didn't give a second yellow (for Bergvall)."

Tottenham without nine players for Liverpool Carabao Cup clash as Arne Slot sweats on two  Liverpool Echo

Tottenham confirm worst injury fear amid Micky van de Ven concerns before Liverpool  Liverpool Echo

Tottenham Hotspur to sign Liverpool defender banned after Manchester United incident  Liverpool Echo

Tottenham 'working' to complete £50m deadline day transfer just days before Liverpool semi-final  Liverpool Echo

Micky van de Ven absence explained before Liverpool as Tottenham handed fresh injury concern  Liverpool Echo

Liverpool are looking to overturn a one-goal deficit in their Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg against Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur will stand by under-fire manager Ange Postecoglou, according to reports, ahead of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Liverpool. The Reds trail to the north London club going into the second-leg at Anfield on February 6, after Spurs were gifted a controversial winner in the reverse leg.

Lucas Bergvall drilled home the only goal of the game late on in the first-leg but his effort came just moments after a cynical challenge on Kostas Tsimikas went unpunished. The Swede had been booked earlier in the proceedings after a trip on Luis Diaz but avoided a second yellow card before breaking the deadlock to hand Spurs the advantage.

Arne Slot's side have bounced back with four wins out of five after the defeat in early January. However, Spurs have endured a difficult run since the triumph where they needed extra time to beat non-league outfit Tamworth in the FA Cup, while they have lost three successive Premier League matches - including a harrowing defeat at home to Leicester City on Sunday.

Football.London have reported that Daniel Levy has stood by the Australian despite the club sitting 15th in the table and eight points clear of the bottom four. It has been suggested that the current injury crisis in north London and the prospect of adding reinforcements in the January transfer window has afforded the Spurs manager more time.

"Yeah, it hurts. It hurts a lot. The players gave everything again," said Postecoglou. "We are going to look at a lot of things, but in terms of effort I can't ask anymore of this group, things just didn't go our way today. We created some good opportunities and unfortunately things just didn't drop for us because not because the players weren't trying and that's the main thing.

"The players are giving everything they can. That is all we can ask for as a football club and me as a manager. They are trying their hardest and that is all anyone can ask for.

"You can analyse the goals, they were disappointing goals for us to concede, but I thought we had enough chances in the game to come out on top.

"When you're in this situation, they are trying as hard as they can and sometimes that doesn't give you the clarity in decision making. All you can ask is for people to do as much as they can and from my perspective I see a group of players that are giving as much as they can.

"I know it will turn. We'll get some players back, we were short again today but in the next couple of weeks there's some really important players coming back that I know will help this group.

"We've not hit a ceiling. We've been going like this for two months. They put in an enormous performance on Thursday to make sure we're OK in Europe and they had to back it up today but there were probably at least two or three players that weren't at 100 per cent.

"I'm a football manager and I get judged on results, that is the way of the world."