EFL Cup
LeicesterLeicester City2LiverpoolLiverpool0

Leicester City 2-0 Liverpool

By Alex BysouthBBC Sport
Slimani
Islam Slimani's goal was his third of the season

Islam Slimani's superb strike helped Leicester see off a wasteful Liverpool at the King Power Stadium to reach the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

The Algeria striker's left-footed shot found the top corner after substitute Shinji Okazaki had put the Foxes ahead.

That came after Liverpool had dominated a first half in which Philippe Coutinho impressed before being replaced.

Okazaki's arrival sparked the Foxes into life and he latched on to Vicente Iborra's knockdown for the opener.

Summer signings Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Dominic Solanke both missed good opportunities for the visitors, who named a much-changed side.

Elsewhere, Roy Hodgson got his first win as Crystal Palace boss at home to Huddersfield and Bristol City shocked Premier League Stoke.

It took Tottenham 65 minutes to break down a resolute Barnsley at Wembley, while Leeds beat Burnley on penalties at Turf Moor.

Joshua King scored in extra time to send Bournemouth through against Brighton, as Middlesbrough knocked out fellow Championship side Aston Villa and Swansea won at Reading.

A tale of two substitutions

Coutinho, having returned to the Liverpool side for the 1-1 draw with Burnley on Saturday, was by far the best player on the pitch in the first half as he sauntered between the lines to dictate the tempo of the Reds' attacks.

The tricky Brazilian combined well with Andy Robertson as the former Hull left-back, another summer arrival, put in several crosses that should have been converted.

Oxlade-Chamberlain, making his first start since a £35m move from Arsenal, had a shot blocked from a smart Robertson cut-back before Solanke headed off target from another pin-point ball.

But Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp opted to replace Coutinho with Ben Woodburn at the break and, despite some impressive running from the 17-year-old Wales international, the team lost their flow.

Klopp said it "was always the plan" to give Coutinho 45 minutes, but his departure was countered with the arrival of Okazaki for the Foxes, the Japan striker adding pace and intensity.

He reacted first to fire low into the corner for the opener with 25 minutes remaining, then teed up Slimani for a fantastic solo effort that put the game beyond the visitors.

Same old problems for Liverpool

Shinji Okazak
Okazaki has now scored four goals in his past seven appearances for Leicester

Liverpool had 35 shots on goal when they were held by Burnley at the weekend. It was a case of deja vu for travelling Reds supporters on Wednesday.

Despite making eight changes, Klopp's team mustered 21 shots at the King Power Stadium on top of 70% possession, but to no avail.

A long-range Demarai Gray effort came from one of Leicester's rare first-half forays, but when the winger dragged wide after the interval it was the first sign of a shift in momentum.

Okazaki's breakthrough came after Liverpool failed to clear a corner - a problem that has haunted them this season, with Klopp admitting afterwards he was "sick" of conceding such goals.

"That we concede like this, that makes me really, really sick," said Klopp. "You cannot play football and do that.

"The story of this game is really easy to tell: we were the much better team in the first half, we played good football, we didn't score, that's sometimes part of football.

"But as long as we concede goals like we conceded today, then it is quite difficult."

Gray could have added gloss to the scoreline as Liverpool looked for a way back into the game late on, only for goalkeeper Danny Ward to turn his strike wide of the post.

It meant a fourth game without a win for Liverpool, whose last victory came against Arsenal in August.

Man of the match - Shinji Okazaki (Leicester)

Shinji Okazaki
Shinji Okazaki had only been on the pitch for 12 minutes when he opened the scoring, with the striker bringing an injection of pace and urgency to a Leicester team that had struggled in the first half.

What's next?

Liverpool travel to Leicester again on Saturday, this time in the Premier League for a 17:30 BST kick-off.

Line-ups

Leicester

Formation 4-4-2

  • 12Hamer
  • 18Amartey
  • 5Morgan
  • 16Dragovic
  • 3Chilwell
  • 11Albrighton
  • 25NdidiSubstituted forChoudhuryat 84'minutes
  • 21IborraBooked at 90mins
  • 7Gray
  • 23UlloaSubstituted forOkazakiat 53'minutes
  • 19Slimani

Substitutes

  • 8Iheanacho
  • 13Musa
  • 17Jakupovic
  • 20Okazaki
  • 26Mahrez
  • 29Benalouane
  • 38Choudhury

Liverpool

Formation 4-3-3

  • 52Ward
  • 38Flanagan
  • 12Gomez
  • 17KlavanBooked at 75mins
  • 26Robertson
  • 5WijnaldumSubstituted forIngsat 73'minutes
  • 14Henderson
  • 16GrujicBooked at 57mins
  • 21Oxlade-Chamberlain
  • 29Solanke
  • 10CoutinhoSubstituted forWoodburnat 45'minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Karius
  • 7Milner
  • 18Moreno
  • 28Ings
  • 50Markovic
  • 58Woodburn
  • 66Alexander-Arnold
Referee:
Stuart Attwell
Attendance:
31,609

Match Stats

Home TeamLeicesterAway TeamLiverpool
Possession
Home30%
Away70%
Shots
Home8
Away21
Shots on Target
Home5
Away3
Corners
Home4
Away6
Fouls
Home9
Away10

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Leicester City 2, Liverpool 0.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Leicester City 2, Liverpool 0.

  3. Post update

    Attempt missed. Marko Grujic (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Jordan Henderson.

  4. Booking

    Vicente Iborra (Leicester City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  5. Post update

    Dominic Solanke (Liverpool) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  6. Post update

    Foul by Vicente Iborra (Leicester City).

  7. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Ben Woodburn (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jon Flanagan.

  8. Post update

    Foul by Jordan Henderson (Liverpool).

  9. Post update

    Demarai Gray (Leicester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  10. Substitution

    Substitution, Leicester City. Hamza Choudhury replaces Wilfred Ndidi.

  11. Post update

    Attempt saved. Shinji Okazaki (Leicester City) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Wilfred Ndidi.

  12. Post update

    Corner, Leicester City. Conceded by Danny Ward.

  13. Post update

    Attempt saved. Demarai Gray (Leicester City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Marc Albrighton.

  14. Goal!

    Goal! Leicester City 2, Liverpool 0. Islam Slimani (Leicester City) left footed shot from outside the box to the top left corner. Assisted by Shinji Okazaki.

  15. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Dominic Solanke (Liverpool) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Marko Grujic.

  16. Post update

    Joseph Gomez (Liverpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  17. Post update

    Foul by Islam Slimani (Leicester City).

  18. Booking

    Ragnar Klavan (Liverpool) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  19. Post update

    Foul by Ragnar Klavan (Liverpool).

  20. Post update

    Shinji Okazaki (Leicester City) wins a free kick on the left wing.

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