Liverpool crushed Chelsea and proved to be the favorites for Carabao Cup final

Liverpool had a very demanding challenge on Wednesday. After Arsenal's victory against Nottingham Forest and Manchester City's more than likely win against the weak Burnley, the pressure was on The Reds, who faced a much tougher opponent than The Gunners and The Citizens: Chelsea. Mauricio Pochettino's team did not have a good start to the season, but their performances lately have improved and they became a respectable opponent.

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Jurgen Klopp had the responsibility to lead the team to a victory that would allow them to maintain their lead in the Premier League standings, where they are the only leaders but are very close to Arsenal and Manchester City. That is why they could not fail on Wednesday, nor disappoint the thousands of fans who filled Anfield Road.

And they didn't. From the start of the match Liverpool proved to be better than their rivals and quickly scored the opener: 23 minutes into the first half Diogo Jota made a great individual move, dribbled past two defenders and netted with a soft shot. And moments later Luis Diaz assisted Conor Bradley, who doubled the lead. They could have gone into the break up 3-0, but Darwin Nuñez missed a penalty kick.

In the second half things did not change much. Bradley assisted Dominik Szoboszlai for the third goal, but then Chelsea reacted thanks to a beautiful goal by Christopher Nkunku. That gave the visitors the energy to dominate the ball and push their opponents for a few minutes, but that was short-lived: after 34 minutes Darwin Nunez sent in a drilled cross and Luis Diaz made it 4-1.

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What will happen in the Carabao Cup?

Wednesday's heavy defeat at Anfield Road surely left Mauricio Pochettino worried. The Chelsea coach will have almost a month to work on a strategy to nullify Liverpool's strengths and look for a victory in the Carabao Cup final, to be played at Wembley Stadium on February 25.