SZOB STUNNER! Liverpool beat Tottenham as Szoboszlai screamer piles more misery on De Zerbi's Spurs - 5 talking points

Liverpool booked their place in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup as they survived a late onslaught to beat Tottenham 3-1 and pile more misery on the visitors at Anfield.

Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo had Liverpool in complete control, before Conor Gallagher had Spurs back in the game in the latter stages. But with seconds left, Dominik Szoboszlai scored one of the goals of the season to put them out of sight.

Spurs and Liverpool both had early chances, but Lucas Bergvall was denied by Giorgi Mamardashvili, shortly before Martin Dubravka stopped Lewis Koumas’ efforts. But Mac Allister gave Dubravka no chance in the 21st minute when he fired into the top corner to open the scoring in brilliant fashion.

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Roberto De Zerbi's side were made to pay the price for missed chances in the second half when Gakpo lashed in a second shortly after the break. It then looked as if it would be a procession for Liverpool, but Gallagher's header shortly before the 70th minute set up a grandstand finish.

Spurs pushed and pushed for equaliser and were only denied by a stunning Mamardashvili save as the clock ticked down. But any hopes of forcing a penalty shootout were extinguished when Szoboszlai unleashed a ferocious volley from 30 yards to settle the point.

Here are the talking points from Anfield...

After going public with his ‘sadness’ about not being offered a new contract, Mac Allister knew his performances would immediately be under scrutiny.

Just a day after that very open press conference, the Argentine scored against Atletico Madrid. And as one of the experienced members of a much-changed XI, he provided a moment of real quality to break the deadlock.

His season won’t be judged on performances in the early round of the Carabao Cup, but after a difficult 25/26, the early signs are that under Iraola, Mac Allister is beginning to rediscover his form.

Make that two goals and three assists in five games this season for Gakpo. The fact that just two weeks ago, there was a chance the Dutchman was leaving Anfield now seems difficult to imagine.

Virgil van Dijk made it clear how important his compatriot was to the squad and Anfield bosses should be thanking their lucky stars a deal didn't materialise.

But if transfer speculation was needed to take his game up to the next level, then in the long term it's good news for everyone concerned. He has been one of the standout performers of the early weeks of the season.

We all know the Carabao Cup is bottom of Liverpool and Tottenham’s list of priorities this season. But that didn’t make the team selections any less disappointing.

Liverpool need to build some momentum under new boss Iraola, after winning just one of their four league games under the Spaniard. But he decided to make 10 changes to his line-up, despite having until Sunday afternoon to prepare for Bournemouth.

It was a similar story for Tottenham, who made eight changes. If Liverpool wanted to build some momentum, Tottenham just needed a result of any type. And Spurs don’t have European football to contend with.

I’m aware this is all a bit ‘old man shouting at clouds’ and it did give a chance for some very talented youngsters to get minutes, but with a three-week international break on the way, could we have not seen slightly stronger XIs?

Had Tottenham gone stronger from the off, there's a fairly good chance they'd be in the hat for the next round.

While De Zerbi was happy to make a host of changes, one he wasn’t willing to make was bringing Richarlison in from the cold.

The Italian has made it clear that he will not play for the club again after turning down a new contract offer in the summer.

Richarlison was close to leaving in the summer, but is now set to be a glorified spectator until January.

De Zerbi stuck to his word, but there must have been a slight temptation. In six games against Liverpool as a Tottenham player, he has four goals. That kind of firepower would have been handy tonight at Anfield.

I know. Spurs fans won't want to hear this. And at the end of the day, this is another defeat - their third in six games, but in the first half particularly, there were reasons for optimism.

On another day Tottenham went in at the break leading, but Bergvall and Kudus both failed to take excellent chances. Scoring a goal - their first against Premier League opposition all season is another huge positive that De Zerbi has to build on quickly.

On Saturday, they host struggling Aston Villa, where they will hope another positive performance can get their first win of the top-flight campaign.