Minamino fires timely reminder of worth to Liverpool in breaking Preston resistance

Japanese international Minamino, with his fifth goal in as many League Cup appearances for Klopp’s side, scored the crucial opener and carried them through to the quarter-finals

Liverpool's Takumi Minamino (left) and Preston North End's Sean Maguire battle for the ball during the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match at Deepdale, Preston. Picture: Nick Potts/PA

PRESTON 0 LIVERPOOL 2

Takumi Minamino, an after-thought apparently at Anfield these days as Jurgen Klopp’s rampant forward line sweeps all before it, claimed the all-important goal that finally broke down their Championship opponents Preston.

Divock Origi added an audacious second for the Premier League side, after 83 minutes, when he scored with an overhead flick after a Neco Willians shot had been deflected into the air.

But it was Japanese international Minamino, with his fifth goal in as many League Cup appearances for Klopp’s side, who scored the crucial opener and carried them through to the quarter-finals in the process, although they were forced to survive some strong moments from their hosts.

Eight times winners of the competition, Liverpool have not lifted the League Cup for a decade now, a “failure” due, in recent years at least, to Klopp’s conscious decision to concentrate more on Premier and Champions League.

But an intriguing blend of fringe players and promising youngsters did enough to suggest they could yet carry their club a little further in the competition this season.

Liverpool had to survive a scare before finally going ahead, moments before Minamino’s 63rd-minute opening goal, when Joe Rafferty’s cross was met by Tom Barkhuizen’s first-time volley which Adrian scooped up at the foot of his post.

From that counter, Liverpool led, as the busy Williams worked his way to the by-line and crossed to the near-post where Minamino converted with a confident flick of the boot past Declan Rudd.

Klopp had, predictably, changed his entire line-up from the one that swept to that spectacular Old Trafford victory on Sunday; Curtis Jones, a first-half substitute against Manchester United, the only starter in the XI for this fourth-round tie.

It paved the way for two more Liverpool youth products to come on stream. Winger Tyler Morton, 19 at the end of the week, and forward Harvey Blair, in particular, were relatively surprising selections.

But there still appeared more than enough quality and experience in Klopp’s line up to handle a Preston side that has never been beyond this fourth round stage in the history of the EFL Cup.

More relevantly, with just two wins in their last ten, manager Frankie McAvoy determined that discretion was the better part of valour, making nine changes of his own ahead of the weekend Championship fixture with Luton.

It led to a predictable result, initially at least, with the Premier League team dominating possession and probing Preston’s five-man defensive line with a series of intelligent passes.

Debutant Blair flashed an early shot over, from Neco Williams’ ball, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain almost played in Divock Origi, who was then denied only by Andrew Hughes’ smart tackle as the striker darted into the area.

The pattern had been set although Tom Barkhuizen woke up the home support in the sold-out Deepdale crowd, when he raced clear on the counter-attack, against Joel Matip, before sending a wild 20-yard shot sailing over Adrian’s goal.

Ryan Ledson maintained what was amounting, in relative terms, to a period of Preston pressure, volleying over from the edge of the area after a neat headed assist from Brad Potts.

The home side appeared to have weathered the worst of the early going and, on 26 minutes, missed the best chance of the night so far after Sean Maguire’s superbly-time through ball played Potts clear.

The midfielder raced clear before unleashing a shot from the edge of the area which Adrian, rather unconvincingly, pushed away from his goal two-handed.

Three minutes later, Preston were even more wasteful after Joe Gomez gave the ball away cheaply in his own half, sparking an attack which should have seen Maguire concert from close range from Ali McCann’s cross, only for Adrian to block brilliantly.

The rebound fell to Ledson whose effort was, similarly, blocked by Williams before Potts ballooned a third chance over from that ricochet.

Klopp brought on defender Nat Phillips, for Matip, at the interval and the second half started as the first had, with his team looking threatening.

Oxlade-Chamberlain’s searching cross-field pass looked like it might find Takumi Minamino, unmarked in the home area, only for the ball to bounce just out of his control.

It was Oxlade-Chamberlain who was beginning to look Liverpool’s best hope of finally turning possession into a goal, the midfielder exchanging passes with Jones, turning and sending a violent shot flying just off-target.

There appeared more purpose in Liverpool’s play, post-interval, and an excellent hanging pass from Morton almost put Minamino clear, once more, as the visitors started to look more direct and purposeful than had been the case in the first half.

LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Adrian 7; Williams 9, Matip 7 (Phillips 45, 6), Gomez 6, Tsimikas 7; Morton 7, Jones 7 (Beck 90), Oxlade-Chamberlain 7 (Dixon-Bonner 90); Blair 6 (Bradley 54, 6), Minamino 7, Origi 7.

PRESTON (3-4-1-2): Rudd 7; van den Berg 6, Lindsay 7, Hughes 6; Rafferty 6, McCann 8 (Johnson 79, 6), Ledson 7 (Whiteman 79, 6), Cunningham 6 (Earl 69, 6); Potts 7; Barkhuizen 7 (Riis 63, 6), Maguire 7 (Sinclair 79, 6).

Referee: David Coote.