Liverpool were due to host Chelsea at Anfield on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup. Ahead of the tie, Andoni Iraola spoke about Liverpool's four-match winning run and the mood after the win over Brighton & Hove Albion.
Iraola on the winning run
Iraola said: "Straight after our game against Brighton on Sunday I was asked how happy I was that the team had made it four wins in a row and I said I was very happy. This is obvious of course but there is another side to winning that is also very important – it leaves you wanting more."
Liverpool's most recent win was a 2-0 Premier League victory against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Reaction to the Brighton win
Iraola said: "The victory over Brighton showed once again the importance of doing the basics well. I love that this is something that our supporters respond to. This was something I knew already from my time as an opposition manager but feeling it on this side – especially those moments when the whole crowd reacts to a tackle being won or a player showing big desire – is something that, like winning, I could never get enough of."
Chelsea in the Carabao Cup
The Reds boss said: "It does not matter what competition we are playing in, what team we select or what the general situation is, we always want to win and that feeling only grows when you know what it means to earn a victory. It is also made bigger by the knowledge that in every game that we play our opponents will have exactly the same ambition and this will definitely be the case tonight when we play a very strong Chelsea team in the Carabao Cup."
GOAL reported that Chelsea are led by Xabi Alonso.
Iraola said: "Xabi is someone who I know well and someone our supporters have a lot of affection for, so I would like to offer him the warmest of welcomes in the knowledge that once the game begins no-one involved will be looking to do anyone any favours. None of us would have it any other way."
Aldridge warns against repeat
The Empire of The Kop said Liverpool were knocked out at the fourth round stage of the Carabao Cup 12 months earlier by Crystal Palace in a 3-0 defeat.
The Empire of The Kop said Arne Slot changed almost his entire XI and included eight teenagers against Crystal Palace, with three of them starting.
The Empire of The Kop said that defeat came during a run of nine defeats in 12 games across all competitions.
Former Reds striker John Aldridge wrote in his column for the Liverpool Echo: "Liverpool can’t make the same mistake as they did last year against Crystal Palace in the League Cup. Arne Slot threw the kids and fringe players in and we got mauled."
Aldridge wrote: "We can’t do that with Chelsea because they’re out of Europe. They need the cup, they need it."
Aldridge wrote: "We’ve got to match them and it’s going to be tough. I’ll tell you what, it’s tough for the manager because we’ve got injuries and you want to keep the players fresh for the league and for Europe."
Aldridge said: "I don’t envy the manager, but we do want a cup run and you win this game and you’re in the quarter-finals, so it’s a tough one. It really is a tough one."