Arsenal vs Liverpool LIVE: Carabao Cup semi-final result, final score and reaction from fixture tonight
Follow the latest updates from the second leg as the Gunners and Reds fight it out to face Chelsea at Wembley
A match that finally took place, but there was no actual contest. Arsenal, it could be argued, still didn’t really play.
Liverpool reached a fifth cup final of Jurgen Klopp’s time, and the first in this competition in six years, by comfortably beating Mikel Arteta’s side 2-0 in the League Cup semi-final second leg. This one wasn’t about false positives but false advertising. It just wasn’t the game that was billed, and certainly didn’t live up the enjoyable chaos that the competition’s semi-finals often offer.
Arteta’s side clearly have so much promise but also some way to go, as they lost another big game. Liverpool, and especially Diogo Jota, were just too good for them. There was almost an inevitability about that given all the ructions of the last week and how the north London derby was postponed. Arsenal could point to a stretched squad and how Thomas Partey came on just hours after arriving back from the African Cup of Nations, only to be sent off in the aimless final minutes.
That ended up being indicative in another way, as it summed up how Arsenal were always stretching to try and bridge the gap to Liverpool, but Klopp’s side were too good.
A side without Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane just showed Arsenal how it’s done, giving a semi-final occasionally clouded by an acrimonious atmosphere a muted finish.
Perhaps the only question from the entire game was whether Jota intended the finish that effectively settled the contest, or mishit it. It is someway irrelevant to the game, given the end result was a goal either way, but it was a rare moment when Aaron Ramsdale looked culpable. Follow all the latest reaction after Arsenal vs Liverpool below:
Arsenal 0 - 0 Liverpool
6 mins: Chance! Liverpool defend the corner and scramble in the penalty area to work the ball away. Arsenal recover it and sweep forward through the inside left channel. It’s played across to Bukayo Saka who gets brought down just outside the box and Arsenal win a free kick in a dangerous area.
Alexandre Lacazette takes the free kick. He whips is beautifully around the wall and the ball looks to be sneaking underneath the crossbar. Caoimhin Kelleher leaps across to his left and tips the ball onto the bar to deny Arsenal an opener!
Arsenal 0 - 0 Liverpool
3 mins: Gabriel Martinelli gets stuck into the game early on and wins a corner with a bright run into the box from the left. He swings the set piece into the box but Andy Roberton wins the header and knocks it to Curtis Jones. He completes the clearance but Arsenal keep the attack alive. It’s passed back to Martinelli whose cross into the middle out the box is headed behind for another corner.
Arsenal 0 - 0 Liverpool
Kick off: Liverpool kick off the match and boot it up the pitch towards Roberto Firmino. He manages to bring the ball down despite some pressure but can’t set up a teammate and Arsenal come away with the ball.
Arsenal vs Liverpool
Here come the teams. There was nothing to separate them in the first leg at Anfield despite Granit Xhaka’s red card halfway through the first half.
The equation is simple. Win tonight and you’ll play Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final. Which team is going to make it?
Kick off is next...
Arsenal vs Liverpool
Arsenal have won just one of their last 17 matches against Liverpool in all competitions with eight draws and eight defeats. They have also failed to score in their last four games against the Reds.
Can they turn things around tonight?
Arsenal vs Liverpool: Arsenal’s Pablo Mari joins Udinese on loan
Arsenal defender Pablo Mari has joined Udinese on loan for the rest of the season.
Spanish centre-half Mari, 28, has made just three appearances in all competitions for the Gunners this season and 22 in total.
Arsenal’s Pablo Mari joins Udinese on loan
Spanish centre-half Mari, 28, has made just three appearances in all competitions for the Gunners this season and 22 in total
Arsenal vs Liverpool
15 minutes to go until kick off at the Emirates stadium. A reminder that away goals play no part in the fixture so if the match ends in a draw of any score then we’ll go to extra time and maybe penalties.
Arsenal vs Liverpool
Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool have scored more goals against Arsenal in all competitions (43) than they have against any other opponent.
Arsenal vs Liverpool
Liverpool have lost only one of their last six visits to the Emirates in all competitions.
The Reds have kept four successive clean sheets against Arsenal and haven’t conceded in the last 425 minutes, since Alexandre Lacazette scored at Anfield in September 2020.
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