Liverpool secured safe passage to the Carabao Cup fourth round with a remarkable comeback victory over Championship side Leicester City.
Second-half goals from Cody Gakpo, Dominik Szoboszlai and Diogo Jota earned the ‘comeback kings‘ a 3-1 victory at Anfield after Kasey McAteer had given Enzo Maresca the lead within three minutes.
Liverpool entered the game on the back of a six-match winning run, thrashing West Ham United 3-1 in their previous outing.
Leicester were also brimming with confidence, having ramped up a three-match winning streak prior to their trip to Anfield, but no one would have expected the Foxes to snatch an early lead.
A heavily rotated Jurgen Klopp side were thwarted inside the first three minutes as Yunus Akgun set up an unmarked McAteer, who made no mistake burying his effort into the bottom left corner.
Klopp’s side would have been unfazed by the early setback, having come from behind to win four of their previous seven fixtures, and began to grow into the game looking for an equaliser.
However, a sturdy Leicester defence refused to be beaten in the first half, although Liverpool came close through Gakpo, who saw his header cleared off the line in the 22nd minute.
The Reds dominated proceedings, recording 15 shots and two big chances in the opening 45 minutes.
But Leicester stood firm to repel a barrage of Liverpool attacks and head into the half-time interval with their lead intact.
Having put up a massive fight in the first half, the bricks in the Leicester backline began to fall in the second period as Gakpo restored parity just three minutes after the restart.
Ryan Gravenberch, who has caught the eye in a Liverpool shirt this season, picked out Gakpo with an exquisite pass, and the Dutchman did the rest, rifling his effort into the bottom corner.
Gakpo came agonisingly close to grabbing his second of the night just before the hour mark after latching on to a cross, but his header could only find the crossbar.
Szoboszlai gave Liverpool the lead in the 70th minute with a piledriver that rocketed into the top corner before Jota put the game to bed, finishing off a sublime team move with a delightful back-heel goal.
The win sees Liverpool advance to the Carabao Cup fourth round while extending their winning streak to seven games across all competitions.
Klopp will ask for more of the same when his team visit London this weekend to face Ange Postecoglou’s high-flying Tottenham Hotspur side.
