Slot has six guaranteed starters for Southampton - Liverpool can't throw it away

Arne Slot has six guaranteed starters for Southampton - Liverpool can't throw this away

The second part of John Aldridge's ECHO column looks at Diogo Jota and how seriously Liverpool should be taking the Carabao Cup

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The major plus point of Saturday's draw at Anfield with Fulham was Diogo Jota's return to action after two months out. The Portugal striker looked like he'd never been away, scoring a brilliant goal to level the score up for 2-2. It might sound a bit strange to say given Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo have been in great form in front of goal and the Reds haven't lost a game in his absence but Jota has been missed.

Before his injury against Chelsea back on October 20, I thought he'd had a bit of an indifferent start to his season but he looked the sharpest I've seen him when he came on against Fulham at the weekend. His intervention was timed perfectly too.

He looked like a greyhound ready to fly out of the traps and he showed so much composure for the equaliser. He had ice in his veins when the chance came, he didn't panic and made it look easy, which is all the more impressive when you think of how little he's played and it was his first opportunity to score since his comeback.

Looking at the game against Southampton on Wednesday night now, Jota needs to start. He needs the minutes and this is a perfect time for him to get it. You can throw in Federico Chiesa into that too and maybe even Darwin Nunez, who could use a goal, and there's your front three for the game.

In midfield, Harvey Elliott can use the minutes, Curtis Jones too maybe and this is a good one for Alexis Mac Allister to get some momentum back too having not played since Newcastle, which will be two weeks by the time the game rolls around on Wednesday night. So there's your frontline and your midfield.

But look, we know it is at the back where Liverpool's injury problems are and Southampton have just been smashed by Tottenham on Sunday and have lost their manager in Russell Martin, so their players might have a point to prove too.

How serious does Slot take this one then? For me, I love the Carabao Cup and it's the quarter-finals. It gave us all one of the moments of last season when the kids beat Chelsea in the final, so you cannot discard it. It's a trophy that we have more than any other club too, so why would you throw this away on Wednesday?

Liverpool have injuries, sure, but they have a strong squad and you have to go for it. Southampton have problems of their own too, so are they thinking about Premier League survival?

The boost winning the Carabao Cup can give the team could be massive too if they go all the way and of course it adds to the fixture list but we've seen so often, like earlier this year at Wembley, just how many memories you can create in this competition. I want to win it.

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