Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp hails six youngsters after ‘perfect’ Preston Carabao Cup win

Liverpool front line compared to 'raptors' by assistant

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp picked out six youngsters for praise after the Reds booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night by beating Preston 2-0 at Deepdale. 

The Reds required third-choice goalkeeper Adrian to make some fine stops in the first half and Neco Williams needed to make a goalline block.

But a youthful eleven, which consisted of 11 changes from Sunday’s thrashing of Manchester United, improved after the break after a toothless first 45 minutes.

Liverpool finally broke the deadlock against their Championship opponents in the 62nd minute thanks to Takumi Minamino’s cute finish from a Williams cross.

And Divock Origi made sure of Liverpool’s victory with a brilliantly improvised goal that saw him backheel the ball over his own head into the back of the net late on.

The win means Liverpool are unbeaten in 23 matches across all competitions stretching back to last season and will have a last-eight tie in this competition to look forward to.

Klopp hailed man of the match Williams and also reserved praise for Tyler Morton, debutant Harvey Blair, and substitutes Conor Bradley, Elijah Dixon-Bonner and Owen Beck too.

The German boss said: “We started quite well. Then they played long balls and they were tricky to defend. They had their moments. The game was kind of open.

“You could see we lost our structure which never helps in football, especially not tonight when you have the ball that much.

“We couldn’t create too much in the first half. Then second half, I think the little change helped. Obviously the game for Harvey in the first half was really not easy.

“Second half we didn’t really involve him but when you cannot train a lot together, these things happen. We decided to change things and push Neco higher and bring Conor on. Both did really well and were really involved. 

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“Neco in the first goal, nice finish. Second goal was a bit of a strange one but Divock showed his skills in that moment. Could’ve scored a third goal, would’ve been nice but it’s not important. 

“Preston played a really inspired game I would say, atmosphere was nice, no-one got injured. Perfect night!

“Especially when he played higher up the field, Neco was good. It was really good. Before then he couldn’t find the position as well. 

“You could see all the boys can play so much better football but when you don’t feel the game, you play a little bit too much the position and not enough the game, it looks a little bit stiff.

“We had these moments tonight. We stood in each other’s way and didn’t find the right spaces. I’ve seen games like this more often than I wanted and it can happen.

“We had to stay in the game, we defended the situations. We needed Adrian with some incredible saves in the first half and in the end, clean sheet, two goals scored, not too long a drive home. All good.”

He added of the club’s young players: “They learned a lot I’m pretty sure. You can see Tyler Morton. We have to send him directly to the gym pretty much because if he gets a body he’s a brilliant footballer.

“There’s still some things to come physique-wise but the football brain is outstanding.

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“Harvey is a real talent but offensive players they need passes, they need the right moments. You can’t expect in the first game against a challenging team that he outplays four players and then puts the ball in the far corner.

“Conor Bradley is a real talent. I like his heart, he’s playing with a lot of heart and his speed in the solo run he showed was really nice. Elijah [Dixon-Bonner] deserved just a few minutes. That’s how it is.

“I think everybody knows Owen Beck played in pre-season for us some real good games. Another talent.

“I like that we could give the boys opportunities even if it’s only a few minutes. It’s only the start for them. It’s the first game for some, now they can build on that.”

Right-back and man of the match Williams said post-match: “We knew it weren’t going to be easy. Preston are a good side and gave us a tough game. We didn’t play our best football but we did enough to get the win and we’re happy with that.

“I’ve got to thank Taki and Divock for them goals, they saved me there but great finishes. The team put a shift in and we worked our balls off and we got the win.

“All the lads put a shift in from the goalkeeper to the strikers. I’m thankful we got the win and I made contributions to the goals.”

Liverpool will learn their quarter-final opponents on Saturday morning with the last-eight draw being conducted on Soccer AM, which begins at 10.30am.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Sunderland, Tottenham, Leicester, Brentford and West Ham are the possible opponents with the Hammers knocking out holders Manchester City on penalties.

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