Liverpool vs West Ham live updates: Carabao Cup team news ...

As for those still to book their place in the fourth-round draw — besides Liverpool and West Ham — one of the ties will also be resolved today, while the other has been delayed.

Arsenal host League One Bolton Wanderers this evening, with that game kicking off 15 minutes before the action at Anfield.

The remaining fixture is League Two AFC Wimbledon facing Newcastle United, which had to be postponed ahead of yesterday after extensive flooding to Wimbledon’s Plough Lane home.

As a result, the tie has now been switched to St James’ Park next Tuesday.

GO FURTHER

Newcastle’s Carabao Cup tie at AFC Wimbledon postponed due to flooding, rescheduled for St James’ Park

We have already had two rounds of this season’s Carabao Cup — a competition that differs from the FA Cup because it is open solely to the 92 professional clubs in England.

The FA Cup is already ploughing through its many qualifying rounds because it is also open to non-League clubs.

The third-round stage, where we’re at now, is when the Premier League clubs involved in European competition get involved — hence why Liverpool begin their defence of the cup tonight.

Here are the clubs to have already made it through to the fourth round draw, along with the tier they are in if not the Premier League:

So in short, a lot of big hitters are still involved.

While we will have our correspondents at Anfield for today’s action, we very much want to hear from you too.

As usual, we have our matchday discussion open for you. Simply click on the Discuss tab at the top of this feed or even easier, you can click here.

You can also email us your thoughts. Whether it’s a question you’ve always wanted answering, your tip for where this game is going to be won or lost, or which player you’re backing to make the difference, get in touch — just send your thoughts to: [email protected]

I will be keeping an eye on the inbox and we will pick out the best of your thoughts to add in here too.

So, happy commenting and questioning. Liberal and creative use of emojis always encouraged.

Hello all and welcome again to our live coverage of the big fixture of tonight’s Carabao Cup action, as Premier League duo Liverpool and West Ham United clash at Anfield.

We’ll have our correspondents at the ground and observers from further afield taking in and assessing all the action, and there is much more on the way as we build up to kick-off and cast an eye over the team news as soon as it breaks.

So in short, don’t go anywhere because we’ve got you covered from here.

Boos from the West Ham boos at full time on Saturday were completely justified.

The dismal defeat was their third from their opening five matches with a 2-0 win away to Crystal Palace the only Premier League silver lining.

Lopetegui was honest in his appraisal, he said: “We have to defend better. It’s normal (the fans booing) because we lost. They have the right to complain and we know this. The only solution to change is to do better and that starts with me.”

The Athletic's Roshane Thomas discussed the lack of identity at West Ham since the Spaniard took over from David Moyes in the summer — check it out below.

GO FURTHER

Julen Lopetegui is right – he and West Ham need to do better. This was another bleak display

West Ham went into the weekend's London derby against Chelsea with a fairly decent record. But that record was tossed aside and stamped on by the visitors who were far too good for their hosts.

There were two very well-taken goals from Nicolas Jackson in the opening 18 minutes and West Ham never really recovered. Their short burst of pressure before half-time was extinguished the other side of the interval when Cole Palmer added Chelsea's third.

The London Stadium cleared out soon after that went in and it did not get any better for those home fans that stayed.

Another disappointing defeat for Julen Lopetegui and West Ham.

GO FURTHER

Julen Lopetegui says he understands West Ham fans’ boos after 3-0 defeat by Chelsea

If Alexander-Arnold does leave Liverpool on a free at the end of the season, there would be plenty of debate over his next destination.

And there would also be lots of debate over the decision, given his lifelong connection with the club.

I'm sure some supporters would take it better than others but the overriding feeling would be that he can't really be blamed for wanting a new challenge.

The Athletic's Simon Hughes wrote about exactly that with the caveat that he could go on to regret leaving Liverpool — you can give that a read below.

GO FURTHER

Trent Alexander-Arnold would not be blamed for leaving Liverpool – but he may regret it

After that win against Bournemouth, the big news story from Anfield over the weekend concerned Trent Alexander-Arnold — whose contract expires at the end of the season — and what he said about his future at Liverpool.

“The most important thing is trophies if I’m honest,” he said on Saturday when asked about his future. “I want to win trophies. I’m a player who is highly motivated by winning things and being elite. That’s probably the main factor of anything.

“If you have a personality that’s elite, who wants to win and will do anything to win then that’s what drives them.

“I have been at the club 20 years now. I have signed four or five contract extensions and none of those have been played out in public. This one won’t be either.”

GO FURTHER

Trent Alexander-Arnold: Trophies ‘the main factor’ in decision on Liverpool future

Liverpool responded brilliantly to their home defeat against Nottingham Forest a week and a half ago.

They came from behind to beat Milan 3-1 at San Siro and then took Bournemouth apart in the first half on Saturday.

Luis Diaz continued his excellent start to the season with two more goals before Darwin Nunez opened his 2024-25 account with a brilliant left-footed finish. Caoimhin Kelleher, deputising for the injured Alisson, was in fine form too as he made a string of key saves to keep a clean sheet.

All in all, a very good afternoon for Arne Slot's men.

West Ham have a rich cup history themselves, but not in this competition.

They won the FA Cup three times between 1964 and 1980 but this is one of the trophies that continues to elude them. During that period of FA Cup success, they twice made the League Cup final (1966 and 1981) but they were beaten both times.

Bobby Moore captained them in the two-legged final of 1966 where they were beaten 5-3 by West Brom. Then, in 1981, they were beaten 2-1 in a final replay by Liverpool after a 1-1 draw in front of 100,000 people at Wembley (pictured).

Since its inception, Liverpool have enjoyed superb success in the League Cup.

While the sponsorship of the competition has changed regularly, one thing has remained the same: Liverpool have been winning it.

They hold the record for the most League Cup (currently known as the Carabao Cup) titles with 10, two more than Manchester City in second.

Most League Cup titles

After four matches yesterday evening, there are just two on the Carabao Cup menu today.

Arsenal, fresh from their hard-fought 2-2 draw away to Manchester City on Sunday, will be relieved to have a much easier task; they face League One side Bolton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium.

And then, obviously, this game at Anfield.

Just the one potential absentee for West Ham.

Niclas Fullkrug has missed their last two matches with an injury to his Achilles and calf sustained on international duty, so it is touch and go whether he will be fit to be involved today.

Emerson Palmieri returned to the starting XI for the home defeat against Chelsea on Saturday and will be available should Julen Lopetegui want him for today's game.

Liverpool fans have seen Federico Chiesa play just 19 minutes of football since he joined the club from Juventus for £12.5m at the end of last month.

He could be set for his full debut today, though.

Asked about the Italian's chances of a debut this evening, Slot said: “I don’t think he’s able to play 90 minutes. He only played 25 now, as a maximum, in the last three, four, five months

“But he’s able to start, in our opinion, and if he will, let’s see. There are many options that we have, but he’s able to start in our opinion.

But I don’t think he’s able to play 90 minutes at the level we are playing tomorrow against a strong West Ham team.”

Just a couple of injury worries for Liverpool going into this one.

Alisson remains unavailable with a hamstring injury, although Caoimhin Kelleher has almost exclusively been the cup goalkeeper for the last few seasons, so not changes there.

The only other absentee is Harvey Elliott who suffered a fracture in his foot earlier this month.

There could be a full debut for one of Arne Slot's summer signings, though...

Anfield, Liverpool

One of the grandest stages in European football plays host to today's Carabao Cup action.

The 61,276-seater is always sold out nowadays and it will be again this evening, but the early rounds of the cup competition rarely stir the famous atmosphere that we see for the bigger matches.

If you're a sports fan, then there is no better place to follow all your favorite teams, leagues and players than on The Athletic.

Whether you want the latest news and in-depth coverage from the ongoing NFL season, the Premier League campaign, or the upcoming NBA action, we've got you covered.

And you're in luck — you can subscribe to The Athletic on an exclusive offer here.

Here are your viewing options for this evening's game.

Of the two Carabao Cup games today, this one is being played in the later slot.

It kicks off at 8pm local time (BST) which, for those of you Stateside, is 3pm EDT and 12pm PDT.