Liverpool beat Arsenal on penalties to reach the Carabao Cup quarter-final.

An early own goal from Shkodran Mustafi gave the hosts the lead when he attempted to intercept Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s cross for Rhian Brewster.

Lucas Torreira pulled the Gunners level on 20 minutes with a strike after Caomhin Kelleher had parried a shot from

Gabriel Martinelli put Unai Emery’s side ahead a matter of minutes later when he pounced on another Kelleher save, this time at his near post, to prod home.

Martinelli doubled his tally and further extended the visitors’ lead when he comfortably slotted into the Kop’s net from a Mesut Ozil cut-back.

The goal scorer turned culprit as he bundled over home debutant Harvey Elliott in the penalty area, allowing James Milner to reduce the deficit from 12 yards.

After the interval, Arsenal went further ahead with Ashley Maitland-Niles adding to their tally when Ozil had drawn Kelleher off his line early in the second half.

Oxlade-Chamberlain struck back almost immediately with a stunning long-range strike that nestled in the top left-hand corner of Emiliano Martinez’s net.

Divock Origi completed the comeback with a brilliant shot on the turn before Joe Willock responded with a powerful 25-yard drive which had Kelleher well beaten.

But in stoppage time, Origi scored once more with a bicycle kick to round off a ten-goal thriller and take the fourth round into a penalty shoot-out.

Kelleher denied Dani Ceballos in front of the Kop before Curtis Jones rifled home the decisive fifth penalty to put Jurgen Klopp’s side in Thursday’s draw.

Here were the key talking points from Anfield:

Reds prove you can win with kids

 

One of Liverpool’s greatest players argued that ‘you can’t win anything with kids’.

Jurgen Klopp fully disproved Alan Hansen’s theory as his burgeoning crop of youngsters went toe-to-toe with an incredibly experienced Arsenal line-up.

Time and again they were able to claw back the deficit while producing a display which will go down among the more valiant in Anfield’s rich and storied history.

Despite moments of shakiness, underlined by the Gunners’ free-scoring antics in either half, the never-say-die attitude that Klopp has ingrained into his squad.

No players could be accused of hiding from their responsibilities, even if their relative lack of senior expertise showed on occasion before a sell-out crowd.

A defeat would not have carried great shame for Liverpool’s young guns but the manner of their penalty shoot-out victory proved that the kids really are alright.

…but supporting cast underwhelm

 

The callow youth in the starting line-up required Liverpool’s senior players to step up. Clearly some of them did not receive the memo, or just ignored it.

Naby Keita is losing his battle for a regular first-team spot after another abject display while Adam Lallana simply could not handle the game’s intensity.

Even the goal scorers were not immune as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain gifted his former club with a misplaced pass that saw Gabriel Martinelli put Arsenal ahead.

James Milner was also guilty after the interval of a similar offence as his stray back pass allowed Ashley Maitland-Niles to steal in and extend the visitors’ lead.

On an evening when Liverpool’s supporting cast should have been on hand to guide their younger peers through a testing game, many got stage fright.

Klopp also left with a headache

 

Ordinarily, the ramifications of a Carabao Cup win with a youthful side would not be so great but a place in the quarter finals brings its own problems.

Liverpool’s scheduled outing at the Club World Cup in Qatar directly clashes with the competition’s last eight stage when it resumes again in mid-December.

Much as he would resent crashing out on home soil, Klopp might have secretly been relieved if his side had avoided the prospect of fixture congestion.

The Reds manager has already thrown down the gauntlet to the game’s various authorities to ensure that its record holders are still able to fulfill their duties.

As it stands, the games will be coming thick and fast between now and January.

Elliott grabs a slice of Anfield history

 

Harvey Elliott will undoubtedly have wished for better circumstances in which to write his name into the Anfield history books.

Fresh from serving a 14-day Football Association suspension, the teenager sought to let his feet, rather than his social media antics, to finally do the talking.

His skill set was fully on show as he constantly demanded the ball from teammates and even found time to channel Klopp’s touchline persona.

Whenever the hosts prepared to take a corner, Elliott reprised the role of a grand conductor; firing up the crowd to get behind the team on each occasion.

At 16 years and 209 days, he became the youngest-ever Liverpool player to appear in a competitive game on home soil and it was an occasion to savour.