Liverpool 2-1 Fulham: EFL Cup semi-final, first-leg result as Cody Gakpo and Curtis Jones's deflected strike secure a narrow win after Willian's opener at Anfield

Willian side steps a challenge and drills a low shot through Van Dijk and into the net after the Liverpool captain's error had allowed Andreas to cut the ball back from the right.

Harrison Reid intercepts a Liverpool attack and surges forward before finding Andreas. The Fulham playmaker teases a dangerous ball towards Jimenez, but Konate steps across to fire it to safety.

Jota drills just wide from a tight angle on the right after neat play from Mac Allister.

Liverpool are bossing the ball and when they lose it they are counter pressing with real aggression.

The visitors are struggling to keep any sort of possession as a result.

Liverpool have lost only one of the 17 semi-final first leg matches that they have played at Anfield in any competition.

That was a 1-0 defeat to Leeds in the 1970-71 Fairs Cup.

A patient attack ends with Bradley playing a tidy one-two with Elliott down the right, but his hooked cross is dealt with by Leno inside the six-yard box.

It was a lovely weight on a clipped pass from Elliott to find the full back too.

Tosin gives the ball away cheaply and Jones is allowed to size up a 22-yard shot that he fizzes too close to Leno.

The make-shift left back has come close on a couple of occasions recently.

In the last eight first leg matches at this stage of the competition, Liverpool have scored only SIX times and have failed to find the net in their last two; failing to score in 2017 at Southampton and playing out a goalless home draw against Arsenal two years ago.

Overall: Liverpool 7 wins, Fulham 0 wins, 2 draws.

In all meetings at Anfield across all comps, Liverpool have won 26 and lost twice with 9 draws.

Fulham get this first-leg of the semi final underway.

No Fulham player has ever scored a winning goal at Anfield in front of fans.

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"No-one needs me to say how big a game this is. It speaks for itself. When you are only two steps away from a final at Wembley, it makes sense to do everything that you possibly can to take them.

"We have done this in the past and the feeling was good – really good – so it would be nice if we could experience that feeling again."

"It’s something that is important for me, for the Club, because we never won this cup. When you win a title – can be Carabao, can be FA Cup, any title – it’s important. It’s good we don’t play against Salah, [but] some of our important players are out for this game as well. It will be a competitive game for us, and for them. We all know that sometimes the atmosphere can win games, and we need to be prepared for this and stay with our heads completely clear."

"I don’t think we ever go into a game with fear. Obviously, we respect opponents but, at the same time, we know how good we are, how good we can play.

"Away from home (against Liverpool in December) we did well and probably should have got something from the game. We didn’t, and we’ll learn from the mistakes we made, and be better for it."

“The incentive is very clear. We are two good performances and two good results away from a final. It was only a couple of seasons ago that we did well enough to reach three major finals, but if there is one thing I learned in that year it is that you can never get enough of playing in finals with a trophy at stake.

"For a club like Liverpool it can be an expectation and it can be an ambition so we carry this responsibility as players, but it is never something that you could take for granted because it is so tough to achieve given how much every other club shares the same aim.”

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"You're talking about two games but, at the same time, you cannot be thinking about the second game if you don't do so well in the first. This is where you have to have the right balance.

"I don't want the players just thinking about the second game, because if we don't do our job really well in the first one, probably the chances to be decisive at home are not going to be there. Because of that, we have to play really at our best level there."

Second-choice stopper Caoimhin Kelleher comes in between the sticks while Conor Bradley is tasked with replacing the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold at right back.

Virgil van Dijk returns after illness ruled him out at the Emirates while Diogo Jota and Ryan Gravenberch also start.