How the Carabao Cup can help Liverpool achieve this season's biggest ambitions

Liverpool Football Club exists to win silverware, but at what point does certain silverware get in the way of more precious jewels?

The dwindling importance of domestic cup competitions is a tiresome topic that comes around every year without any semblance of a solution.

The Champions League dwarfs the Carabao Cup in terms of prize money, the European competition earning the Reds about 18 times more for each league phase win than a Carabao Cup final triumph at Wembley.

With the financial incentive at practically zero for big clubs, the motivation for winning is simply for the glory of the game. This is what has driven Liverpool to three finals in their last four years.

So, aside from the obvious silver carrot at the end of the line, how else can a Carabao Cup run benefit Liverpool?

Cody Gakpo’s success story

Cast your mind back to the beginning of Arne Slot‘s first season. Mo Salah, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz were the first-choice front three while Cody Gakpo bided his time on the bench.

The Dutchman started just three of Liverpool’s first 11 Premier League matches last season, but he already had four goals and two assists in all competitions before October was out.

This was thanks to a brace at Anfield against West Ham and another away at Brighton, both in the Carabao Cup and both in performances that are remembered for his clinical finishing from the wing.

Before Slot’s arrival, Jurgen Klopp had often used Gakpo through the middle. However, due to his productivity off the left, the new boss decided to make his compatriot Liverpool’s first-choice left-winger, with Diaz deemed a better fit as false nine.

Gakpo had played his way into the Slot’s preferred XI thanks to his showings against Premier League-standard sides.

That is what the Carabao Cup can do for players in the early stage of the season. When there are fewer midweek games with which to contend, chances are few and far between for fringe players, fringe players who could become starters.

Maintaining match sharpness

The early rounds of this cup competition can provide much-needed game time for those not in Slot’s Premier League starting XI.

With match sharpness so important for players who are called into first-team action at short notice, it can only benefit Liverpool to have them playing competitive football and dates to work toward as each round approaches.

Thankfully for the Reds, this season’s draw has allowed for rotation – if Man City or Arsenal are picked out of the hat in the next round, then Slot could be forced to field a stronger side.

For now, though, the likes of Federico Chiesa can train and remain motivated in the knowledge they can make a real impact on the campaign.

With Mo Salah leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations for a month from mid-December, keeping fit Liverpool’s only other right-winger by trade could be crucial.

Joe Gomez is another who could benefit from Liverpool progressing through the Carabao Cup‘s early rounds.

Giovanni Leoni‘s ACL injury means the Reds have just three senior centre-backs until at least January, and one injury to Virgil van Dijk or Ibrahima Konate would mean Gomez becomes a starter.

This is far from disastrous – Gomez is an elite defender on his day – but he has previously shown the need to regain rhythm when returning to the team. Playing in cup competitions would surely aid his transition back into the first XI.

It isn’t just fringe players who benefit, either. Alexander Isak will take confidence from his goal and be pleased to have another 45 minutes in his legs.

Hugo Ekitike‘s suspension means the Swede will now be thrust into a tough league match away at Crystal Palace on Saturday, and he will arguably be better for having played in midweek.

Liverpool lack fluidity but quality rises to the top

While complaints are frequently made about how many players are rested by managers in cup competitions, this does provide a different sort of excitement, as fans are able to watch players who don’t feature regularly but have plenty of potential.

Often they aren’t able to flourish in one-off games, though, as the lineups are usually cobbled together with other great individuals, but ones who haven’t played together enough to achieve any kind of fluidity.

This is partly why Gakpo excelled last season in the early stages of the Carabao Cup, with the Dutchman’s physicality and ruthless streak rising above the rest.

Like against Southampton on Tuesday, Liverpool were quite poor in the first half of last year’s third-round tie against West Ham, but ultimately, quality prevailed in the second half both times as the players grew into the game.

So, while you get the sense Slot wouldn’t have minded going out in the third round with the excuse of having rested his best players, there are plenty of positives for Liverpool to take from going through.

Of course, the primary reason to progress is to reach the final, but if the competition can help maintain the squad’s fitness at this stage of the season, Liverpool could feel the benefits of these early rounds long after March’s Wembley final.

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