Tottenham Hotspur emerged victorious against Liverpool in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semifinals taking a one goal advantage to Anfield. Liverpool failed to win for the second game in a row after drawing with Manchester United last weekend in the Premier League.

Mikel Arteta lamented Arsenal’s inefficiency in front of goal compared to Newcastle and Alexander Isak, but backed his players to turn around the 2-0 Carabao Cup deficit – so long as they adapt to the “tricky” ball being used in the competition.

Four things we learned from the Carabao Cup semifinals, featuring Mikel Arteta’s excuses and a bright future at Tottenham.Arteta excuses don’t mask Arsenal issuesMikel Arteta bizarrely blamed

Tottenham Hotspur defeated Liverpool 1-0 in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday night. The Reds came into the fixture as heavy favourites to win, as they had already claimed a 6-3 win over Spurs in a Premier League clash in December.

Liverpool travel down to North London to face Tottenham for the first leg of the semifinals of their Carabao Cup tie.

Both teams came into this match with opposing runs of form. Liverpool have been electric, riding high on both the Premier League and Champions League, with Arne Slot looking to get to his first final

Arne Slot's Liverpool will take on Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham in London in the Carabao Cup semifinal first leg on Wednesday - with VAR set to be used in a new way

Lucas Bergvall’s first goal for Tottenham secured a 1-0 win over Liverpool in the English League Cup semifinals on Wednesday in a first-leg match notable for a serious-looking injury to Rodrigo Bentancur and the first in-stadium announcement by a referee in the English game.