The first signs of weakness were seen on the weekend against Shrewsbury, but the Arsenal EFL Cup tie on Thursday night demonstrated how impotent Liverpool are without its African stars, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.A lack of attacking options prevented the Reds from scoring, so a ten-men Arsenal prevailed in front of packed Anfield and thousands of vocal Liverpool fans. Who else than Granit Xhaka made a fool of himself and left the rest of the team on the verge of a guillotine, but Jurgen Klopp’s outfit failed to take advantage of his red card. Instead, this 0-0 leaves both sides with equal chances of reaching the finals and facing Antonio Conte’s Chelsea after trumping Tottenham in both semifinal legs.VAR denies two penalties and a goal to Spurs, Chelsea still too strongArteta faced two painful punches early on, as Cedric got injured shortly after the kick-off (Chambers replaced him), and Xhaka got sent off much deservedly with 76 minutes left on the clock. It was Robertson’s long-range pass to Diogo Jota on the left flank, Xhaka tried to get a hold of a ball but instead kicked the Portuguese winger straight in the chest as the last man in defence. #LIVARS Red Card Xhaka. pic.twitter.com/UDNfHWlydT— 3ZOOZ LIVE (@3zzlive) January 13, 2022 Ten-men Gunners, however, refused to surrender and kept their spirits high, preventing the home side from creating any trouble in the Londoners’ area in the first period.Instead, the visitors struck first once the teams returned from the break. Saka received a fine pass on the right flank and stormed down the box but was undecisive in those crucial moments, and Matip made the most of it to save his slot from conceding. 📸 – Saka close to scoring but Alisson prevents him… pic.twitter.com/h4CoAChyEN— 𝐀𝐅𝐂 𝐀𝐉𝐀𝐗 💎 (@TheEuropeanLad) January 13, 2022 Pretty much the same actors were seen on the stage some 20 minutes later following Tierney’s perfect pass to Saka, who took some time to put a ball on his left, but Alisson managed to stop the shot and his team.On the other end, unplayable Robertson provided Minamino with a decent goal-scoring chance, and who knows what would happen if his strike went just inches closer to the left post.However, the Japanese forward embarrassed himself on the verge of a stoppage-time. Ramsdale made a horrible call leaving the goal-line, the ball reached Minamino only a few yards away from goal with no keeper on sight, yet he still managed to miss heavily. Minamino really did miss this… pic.twitter.com/0BdQYmPbfu— Ardit (@titiigoles) January 13, 2022 Another Ramsdale’s dive into the unknown left Williams with a chance too. His volley was splendid, but White reacted marvellously on the line to seal the game at 0-0.EFL CUP – SEMIFINALSTottenham – Chelsea 0-1 (0-1)/Rudiger 18/Liverpool – Arsenal 0-0 (0-0)
