Liverpool booked their place in the fourth round of the EFL Cup thanks to a comfortable win over Derby.
Liverpool’s Ragnar Klavan celebrates scoring their first goal
Liverpool comfortably secured their passage to the fourth round of the EFL Cup thanks to a 3-0 win over Derby County at the iPro Stadium.
Ragnar Klavan’s first goal since his arrival from Augsburg gave the Reds a half-time lead before they went through the gears after the interval as Philippe Coutinho and Divock Origi got on the scoresheet.
Jürgen Klopp made seven changes from the side that beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Friday which saw Loris Karius handed his full debut in goal, while Alberto Moreno along with Klavan was recalled to the side, and Marko Grujic was given his first competitive start.
It’s three wins on the bounce in all competitions for the Reds now, and attention will turn to their Premier League clash with Hull City at Anfield on Saturday.
Given how comfortable the outing was for Liverpool, it’s pretty tricky to rate, but here’s how those in Red scored on first viewing:
Liverpool’s Loris Karius
Loris Karius – Did more with his feet than his hands, looked pretty accomplished, just the one cross he looked uneasy with but he won’t have an easier game for Liverpool – 6
Nathaniel Clyne – Solid, reliable. Just Nathaniel Clyne. Copy and paste for the next ratings – 7
Joel Matip – Didn’t have an awful lot to do, a comfortable night’s work – 6
Ragnar Klavan – Easy to mistake him for Robbie Fowler with his sharp reactions for the goal. Better than his last showing – 7
Alberto Moreno – Trying to impress, showed signs of work being done on the training ground but more to do – 6
Lucas Leiva – Kept things ticking over. A quiet night but he won’t mind – 6
Marko Grujic – Tired, which led to one or two errors, but there were the flashes of quality that you could see why he was bought – 6
Jordan Henderson – Took him a little time to re-adapt to being pushed further forward. A quiet night – 6
Roberto Firmino – Strong, busy, lovely work and final pass for Coutinho’s strike, got better as the game went on – 7
Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho scores their second goal
Philippe Coutinho – Had his moments in the first half, well taken goal immediately after being elbowed in the face, lovely pass for Origi’s goal and brought some party pieces out before his withdrawal – 8
Divock Origi – He seemed to lack a bit of confidence in the first half, then he despatched that effort in the second half with aplomb as he ran the channels more – 7
Subs:
Emre Can – Good to see Can back and it was interesting he was playing further forward. Did nothing wrong though had one or two opportunities to open Derby up again – 6
Danny Ings – The priority for him was to get minutes under his belt as he continues to build his fitness from last season’s injury. Made some intelligent runs but game was won by the time he came on – N/A
Ovie Ejaria – Again, another player who will be delighted to get on the field. Wasn’t quite sure where he’s playing but here’s hoping it’s the first of many first team appearances – N/A
Liverpool’s Divock Origi scores their third goal
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