EFL Cup: Salah and VVD rested as Reds survive St. Mary's test

It was far from a landslide victory, but Liverpool's 2-1 away win at St. Mary's in the EFL Cup quarter-finals wasn't as hard-fought as the result might suggest.

Without two of their biggest stars, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, the Reds made an excellent start to the game, netting twice before the break in the pouring rain to kill the suspense.

Darwin Nunez opened the scoring and Harvey Elliot headed it home to double the lead. At that point, it seemed like the Premier League leaders are on the way to destroy poor hosts who conceded ten goals in two previous games. However, the second half was much better for Southampton, as the Saints' showed character and created a couple of decent chances before scoring through Archer around an hour mark.

Still, Liverpool could have made it 3-1 on various occasions, but Federico Chiesa was unlucky on his return to the squad. Liverpool will face the defeater of the Tottenham-Manchester United clash, which is scheduled for Thursday evening.

EFL CUP - QUARTER-FINALS

Wednesday

Arsenal - Crystal Palace 3-2 (0-1)

/Jesus 54, 73, 81 - Mateta 4, Nketiah 84/

Newcastle - Brentford 3-1 (2-0)

/Tonali 9, 43, Schar 69 - Wissa 90+1/

Southampton - Liverpool 1-2 (0-2)

/Archer 59 - Darwin 24, Elliot 32/

Thursday

23.00: (2.40) Tottenham (3.60) Man.Utd. (2.80)

***odds are subject to change***