There were five all-Premier-League ties in the EFL Cup fourth round on Wednesday night, so there was plenty to keep an eye on from a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) perspective.
No more so than at Anfield, where Liverpool edged past Chelsea after a penalty shootout.
Here are our Scout Notes from the match.
RESULT
| Score | Goals | Assists | Leading DefCons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea (6-5 pens) | Gakpo pen | Rogers pen | van Dijk | Caicedo | Fofana (16), Araujo (14), Acheampong (11) |
SELECTION/ROTATION
| Team | No. of starting XI changes made from GW8 | Players who kept their places (mins played) | Mins for other players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 7 | Araujo (90), Gravenberch (90), Gakpo (90), van Dijk (72) | Mamardashvili (90), Gomez (90), Tsimikas (90), Nyoni (82), Ngumoha (82), McConnell (59), Koumas (59), Wirtz (31), Barcola (31), Jacquet (18), Mac Allister (8), Isak (8) |
| Chelsea | 4 | Penders (90), Acheampong (90), Henderson (90), Neto (90), Rogers (90), Caicedo (68), Lacroix (45) | Fofana (90), Lavia (90), Gusto (68), Welbeck (68), Colwill (45), Palestra (22), Barco (22), Emegha (22) |
SCOUT NOTES
CHELSEA
- Xabi Alonso went strong for this clash, despite the Blues’ upcoming Saturday lunchtime kick-off. One of his four changes was enforced, too, due to Cole Palmer‘s (£9.8m) suspension. Palmer is available for Gameweek 9, in case you weren’t aware already.
- Morgan Rogers (£8.0m) and Pedro Neto (£6.6m) both got 90 minutes. In other circumstances, this may be a concern for the Gameweek ahead, but Chelsea are already down one key attacker in the form of Joao Pedro (£7.8m), and Alonso doesn’t have a wealth of alternatives waiting in the wings – especially as he doesn’t seem to trust Estevao (£6.3m). Plus, the Blues haven’t amassed the game-time that other Premier League clubs have, due to their non-involvement in Europe.
- On the subject of Pedro, Alonso didn’t offer us any more after full-time in this game. However, Brazilian outlet ge.globo reports that the striker’s injury “will prevent him from being called up for the [national team’s] games against Japan and Singapore in November”. So, as expected, we’re looking at Gameweek 11 at the very earliest for Pedro’s return.
- Chelsea suffered another couple of injury blows on Wednesday. Maxence Lacroix (£5.9m) limped off at the end of the first half, while Moises Caicedo (£5.3m) had “little problems”.
“Too early to tell. Probably he felt something on the hamstrings. And we need a couple of days to check what’s going to be the injury.” – Xabi Alonso on Maxence Lacroix
“Well, we have started with Pedro [Neto], with Danny [Welbeck] and with Morgan [Rogers] up front. The game had very intense moments. We knew that it was going to be physical. And after we had to deal with Moi [Caicedo], he had little problems. Malo [Gusto], as well, he had cramps. So we were a little bit forced with substitutions.” – Xabi Alonso on why he didn’t bring Estevao on
- In the absence of Palmer and Pedro, Rogers stepped up from the spot to convert Chelsea’s first-half penalty. This was despite Danny Welbeck (£5.8m) being on the field at the time. Rogers also went on to net in the shootout.
- This was a poor game until Rogers’ 40th-minute opener. While Liverpool can point to the fact that they had rested/were missing most of their regulars in midfield and attack, Alonso didn’t rotate nearly as much – albeit he was without Pedro and Palmer.
- Welbeck was quiet, while Rogers had an off-night (penalties aside), making some poor decisions on the ball. He did, however, have a game-high six shots, and was the only Chelsea player to register more than one effort. He was at the heart of the Blues’ better second-half chances: a saved shot of his own from 15 yards when everyone had stopped to wait for a handball decision, and then a chance created for Marco Palestra (£5.3m), which was again repelled by Giorgi Mamardashvili (£4.8m).
LIVERPOOL
- Liverpool had the better of the second-half chances after a slumbering game sparked into life. Ronald Araujo (£5.4m) was repelled brilliantly from close range by Mike Penders (£4.4m), while Florian Wirtz (£7.2m) couldn’t turn a shot from inside the six-yard box past Levi Colwill (£4.8m). Bradley Barcola (£8.1m) also had an attempt diverted wide by Penders.
- Wirtz made a swift return from the ankle issue that forced him off in Gameweek 8, coming on for the final half an hour.
- Barcola also came on in the 60th minute, while Alexander Isak (£9.1m) – one of the leading potential replacements for Pedro owners – enjoyed another welcome midweek rest. The Swede only emerged for the final eight minutes, with penalties in mind.
“A little bit of everything. When you do the line-ups and the squads, you are not thinking, ‘In case it goes to penalties, I will leave the ones who shoot the penalties for the end.’ No, you are trying to balance the team. We are changing a lot of the players because we need to change. We did seven changes today but even in the Champions League, which are very important games, we are doing always four or five changes. Obviously, when I did the last subs – when I put Alexis [Mac Allister] and Alex [Isak] especially – it starts to be in your head, ‘OK, in case of need, they also are the best ones probably you can put.'” – Andoni Iraola on his rotation
- With Isak on the bench and Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.7m) injured, Cody Gakpo (£7.1m) stepped up to take Liverpool’s first-half spot-kick. Again, like Rogers, he followed that up by converting his shootout penalty.
- Gakpo led the line for the Reds, aided by the youthful trio of Lewis Koumas (£5.0m), James McConnell (£4.4m) and Rio Ngumoha (£5.7m). He didn’t get much service, in truth, with one saved effort just after his penalty representing his only other attempt. The Netherlands international has now lasted three 90 minutes in a row heading into Gameweek 9:
Above image from our Minutes Tracker
- Araujo was actually Liverpool’s leading shot-taker of this match, with three. Penders’ saved denied him what would have been an eye-catching third goal of 2026/27, although strangely he’s only had one shot in the Premier League. Deployed at centre-half, rather than right-back, the positional switch helped him reach the DefCon threshold.
- Virgil van Dijk (£6.4m) came off after 72 minutes but that looked like minute management rather than anything concerning.
- READ MORE: Best Pedro replacements in FPL – and is he a definite ‘sell’?
- READ MORE: Jackson, Evanilson, Cherki, Gabriel: Buy, keep or sell in Gameweek 9?
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 9 tips: Best players, predicted line-ups, team news + more
