Carabao Cup fourth-round draw LIVE – Chelsea, Arsenal, Man United and Liverpool learn next opponents

Last season, Jurgen Klopp described Diogo Jota as the best finisher at Anfield. If Arne Slot is yet to bestow such a compliment – and, more modest in his rhetoric, his praise of anyone so far has tended to be measured – he has installed the Portuguese as his first-choice No 9, a role he only had intermittently under the German. If Slot looked justified after the biggest win of his brief reign, this was a night when Klopp felt vindicated, too.

Jota’s first double since January displayed his predatory instincts, elusive movement and capacity to make scoring look simple. As Liverpool came from behind to beat West Ham United, the catalyst was the one member of Slot’s first-choice team to start. Jota may have felt the outsider in a second-string side but he served as their rescuer after Jarell Quansah, continuing his inauspicious start to life under Slot, accidentally put the Hammers ahead.

Emi Buendia hailed a special night after scoring his first goal since March 2023 as Aston Villa reached the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a 2-1 win at Wycombe.

Winger Buendia, who missed the whole of last season through injury, headed the opener before Jhon Duran tucked away a penalty to see off League One Wanderers, who hit a late consolation through Richard Kone.

“It is a really special night, to come back to play again for this club,” the Argentinian, who captained Villa, told Sky Sports.

If a midfielder has dominated the discourse surrounding Manchester City, it is not Matheus Nunes. While they await bulletins on the state of Rodri’s knee, the Portuguese’s first City goal ranks as a subplot of their week. Rodri has an ubiquity but Nunes has become the £53m forgotten man, the sort of figure who may only be glimpsed in the starting 11 on Carabao Cup nights.

As he belatedly opened his City account, however, his goal proved decisive when a second-string side were given a late fright by Watford.

His reward may be a return to the relative obscurity of the bench. Nunes has only played 20 minutes in the Premier and Champions League so far this season. Ilkay Gundogan’s return has relegated him further down the pecking order, making him more of an afterthought.

Ethan Nwaneri scored twice on a historic night for Arsenal after 16-year-old goalkeeper Jack Porter became the club’s youngest ever player to start a match in their 5-1 win against Bolton.

But it was the highly-rated Nwaneri whose name was up in lights when he scored a brace either side of the interval on a night to remember for the Enfield 17-year-old.

The most successful manager in the League Cup’s history produced a damning admission. Manchester City will not waste their energy on the next round. Not, it should be said, out of choice. Pep Guardiola has won the League Cup four times, putting him in the company of Brian Clough, Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho, due to an attitude that has reflects an insatiable desire to win, but also his determination to take it seriously.

Their four consecutive League Cup wins suggested it was a trophy worth winning, with a willingness to hoover up the lesser prizes has reduced the opportunities for anyone else to claim any silverware. Guardiola could rotate, but usually with the sense he would find a strong enough side to advance.

And now there has been a shift in approach. “The next round, I announce to you now, I play the second team,” Guardiola said. “We are not going to waste energy on this competition, for sure.”

Lopetegui looks understandably disappointed as he speaks to Sky.

“We don’t deserve this score because we did a lot of good things,” he said.

“We made a very good first half. They scored an offside goal. We suffered the first goal.

“After we had 10 players they scored more goals. The last 20 minutes we didn’t manage well. The players made a big effort. We were in the match until this moment despite the referee’s decision and a very clear chance we had.

“I’m sorry for our fans.”

On Edson Alvarez’s red card, he says that a “second yellow card can happen”, though he adds that it should have been a chance for his side to show some character.

“I’m very proud of the players who played until 60 minutes,” he adds.

Arne Slot was the first manager to speak to Sky Sports.

He said: “If you’re facing a team like West Ham, who have a lot of quality, they can press you. Second half they were also threatening on set-pieces.

“Since I’ve been here it’s never been easy, although sometimes the result looks different, but probably that’s the Premier League. Every team has quality players.

“I do feel like in most parts of the game we had control. We had a large part of ball possession, particularly in the first half.”

He adds that Cody Gakpo deserved his goal, “like others deserved it as well”.

On the competition within the squad, he said: “I’ve never worked with a group of players who don’t want to play. Everywhere is the same, players like to play, especially to be part of a winning group.”

Here’s the draw in full, with Tottenham v Manchester City as the pick of the games.

Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City

AFC Wimbledon/Newcastle v Chelsea

Aston Villa v Crystal Palace

Preston North End v Arsenal

Manchester United v Leicester City

Brentford v Sheffield Wednesday

Ties will take place in the week commencing 28 October.  

Aston Villa v Crystal Palace