Following their recent FA Cup third-round victories, Liverpool and Fulham will look for another knockout in the first round of their EFL Cup semi-finals on Wednesday evening. The Reds welcome the Cottagers to Anfield after a 2-0 FA Cup victory over Arsenal, while Marco Silva's side defeated Rotherham United 1-0 to get to the fourth round. Following in the footsteps of West Ham United, who absorbed nearly 90 minutes of pressure at the Emirates before winning 2-0, Liverpool were the latest team to benefit from the Gunners' worrying wastefulness on Sunday evening, as Jurgen Klopp's side advanced to the fourth round against all odds.

With Virgil van Dijk out due to illness and Mohamed Salah preparing to compete for Africa Cup of Nations glory, Liverpool could have easily been two or three goals down at halftime, but as Arsenal tried and failed to breach Alisson Becker's goal, the Reds ruthlessly punished their hosts with an own goal by Jakub Kiwior and an injury-time strike by Luis Diaz. By returning home from North London with a stellar performance, the Reds are once again vying for a quadruple of honours - Premier League and Europa League supremacy are very much realistic goals - and the Merseyside giants will play in the EFL Cup semi-finals for the record 19th time this week. The nine-time winners have dispatched Leicester City, Bournemouth, and West Ham United to reach the final four, despite failing to keep a clean sheet in each of those games, and the Reds have never lost their eight previous semi-final first legs at home.

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Sunday's victory over Arsenal extended Liverpool's unbeaten streak across all tournaments to six games, and they have gone 23 competitive games without losing at Anfield, though their most recent EFL Cup loss on home soil came against a capital club in the form of Arsenal in 2020. Four years later, Klopp and Silva can laugh about their separate victory against the Gunners, who also lost 2-1 to the Cottagers on New Year's Eve before Fulham made it two wins in a row on Friday evening. The visit of Championship strugglers Rotherham was not expected to be a significant test of Fulham's FA Cup credentials, especially with Silva fielding a formidable starting XI, but only one goal separated the two sides in West London, as Bobby Decordova-Reid, who scored the winner against Arsenal, struck with 24 minutes remaining. 

Before Fulham can advance their hopes of a maiden FA Cup championship, the Cottagers can take one step closer to a first-ever EFL Cup triumph with a shock victory at Anfield, and Wednesday's encounter will be the visitors' first semi-final appearance. The Cottagers have already tasted success against one Merseyside outfit in this year's tournament, defeating Everton on penalties in the last eight after defeating Tottenham Hotspur, Norwich City, and Ipswich Town in the previous rounds, but a first-time semi-finalist has not advanced to the final since the 2012-13 season. Either Middlesbrough or West London rivals Chelsea will be waiting for Fulham if they upset the odds in their two-legged tie, but the Cottagers have lost all five previous EFL Cup meetings with Liverpool and were defeated 4-3 in a Premier League thriller at Anfield just one month ago.

(Image: This Is Anfield)