The League Cup quarter-finals take place this week as three games are played across England on Wednesday evening.

Here’s what happened.

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Southampton vs Liverpool

Goalscorers: Archer 59′; Núñez 24′, Elliot 33′

Despite a late attack, Liverpool prevailed against Southampton and secured their place in the semi-finals.

The torrential rain on the south coast seemed to stutter the pace of the opening ten minutes, but perhaps Liverpool’s makeshift starting line-up didn’t help the lack of rhythm.

It’s fitting that the opening goal came with the help of a deflection when a through ball from Trent Alexander-Arnold was flicked by a Saints defender into the path of Darwin Núñez and the Uruguayan showed unusual composure in bringing the ball to the ground and finished one on two – one with the goalkeeper.

Things went from good to great for the Reds after half an hour when Harvey Elliott doubled the lead from close range, completing a great team move.

While it looked like Liverpool would survive the second half, Cameron Archer revived the game with a goal that halved Liverpool’s lead.

The Saints increased the pressure in the final moments as Liverpool fought off an equaliser, but the home side always seemed to miss the final pass.

A late call for a penalty for Southampton was rejected by the referee after Jarell Quansah appeared to bring down a Saints attacker from behind in the penalty area.

But the late push was unsuccessful as the guests were able to secure their place in the next round.

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Arsenal vs Crystal Palace

Goalscorers: Jesus 53′, 74′, 81′ ; Mateta 4′, Nketiah 88′

A hat-trick from Gabriel Jesus rescued Arsenal from an early deficit and took them past Crystal Palace to the League Cup semi-finals.

It was a brilliant start for the visitors as Dean Henderson played a pass into Jean-Philippe Mateta and the striker scored a cool finish to make it 1-0.

The Gunners dominated possession after the early blow but struggled to find a chance to create a quality goal-scoring chance – a pattern for Mikel Arteta’s side of late.

After the break the hosts finally created a number of chances and Gabriel Jesus was the beneficiary when he parried away an audacious lob after getting behind the Palace rearguard.

The Brazilian has been criticized a lot for his lack of goals of late, but the former Manchester City man quieted those critics for now with another goal on the night, helping to complete the turnaround for the home side.

He completed his hat-trick not too long later as Crystal Palace became increasingly exposed in the dying moments, seemingly confirming the Gunners’ place in the semi-finals.

A late header from Eddie Nketiah against his former team forced the Emirates fans to sweat in stoppage time, although it was only a consolation.

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Newcastle vs Brentford

Goalscorers: Tonali 9′, 43′, Schár 69′ ; Wissa 90+1′

Newcastle United returned to winning ways with a solid performance against Brentford to progress to the next round.

A heavily rotated Brentford side was a surprise as they look comfortable in the current Premier League table, but Eddie Howe was strong with his side.

That paid off in the first ten minutes when Sandro Tonali opened the scoring with a fizzing shot from the edge of the penalty area.

Brentford did little to get back into the game and they were punished when Tonali scored his second of the night from a corner, firing a volley into the goal.

The tie was broken after the break when Bruno Guimarães fed Fabian Schär from point-blank range to score Newcastle’s third goal of the night.

Yoane Wissa scored in stoppage time for the Bees, but it was too little, too late for the visitors as time ran out in the League Cup just minutes later.

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