Tuesday’s EFL Cup (Carabao Cup) third-round fixtures delivered another difficult night for Tottenham Hotspur, while Liverpool and Arsenal accomplished their objectives to secure places in the fourth round on an evening defined by action through to penalty shootouts.
Attention focused heavily on Anfield, where Tottenham sought to utilize the domestic cup competition to break out of a difficult run of form, only to encounter a more clinical Liverpool side, while Arsenal granted opportunities to several young players against Ipswich Town.
Liverpool defeated Tottenham 3-1, with Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo scoring the opening two goals before Conor Gallagher reduced the deficit for the visitors, only for Dominik Szoboszlai to extinguish Tottenham’s comeback hopes with a strike in the closing minutes.
The defeat compounded mounting pressure on Tottenham and manager Roberto De Zerbi following an opening stretch in the Premier League that yielded zero victories across the first four matchdays—comprising two draws and two defeats—alongside a failure to score a league goal thus far, with Gallagher’s cup effort proving insufficient to turn their campaign around.
At Portman Road, Arsenal earned a 4-2 victory over Ipswich Town behind a brace from young prospect Max Dowman alongside goals from Noni Madueke and Mikel Merino, while Anis Mehmeti and Chuba Akpom scored for the host side.
Across remaining fixtures, Fulham secured a 3-2 victory against West Ham United, Brentford defeated Reading 2-1, and Peterborough United required a penalty shootout to eliminate Barnsley 7-6 following a 3-3 draw in regulation time.
The draw for the fourth round is scheduled for Wednesday evening, September 16, following the conclusion of the Manchester United versus Brighton fixture, with proceedings expected to begin around 22:20 UK time (00:20 Makkah time), with fourth-round matches set to take place during the week commencing October 26.
