Jurgen Klopp ruled out rushing into the transfer market to boost Liverpool's flagging season after the holders suffered FA Cup elimination at Brighton and Hove Albion.

With a deadline for mid-season deals coming up on Tuesday, Klopp declared there would be no new faces arriving at Anfield.

Klopp told beIN Sports: "No, nothing will happen in this transfer window, that's all."

Liverpool's last trophy hope for this campaign lies in the Champions League, where they face Real Madrid at the last-16 stage, having lost to the Spanish giants in last year's final.

The Reds are out of both domestic cups and sit only ninth in the Premier League, having won just eight of their opening 19 games in the competition. Across all competitions, they have already lost nine times in 31 outings this term.

Klopp picked fault in the body language of several of his players in the 2-1 fourth-round loss to the Seagulls, which followed 15 days on from a 3-0 league defeat to the same opposition at the Amex Stadium.

He also wrote off Liverpool's set-piece defending as a major disappointment, with Brighton twice punishing the Reds from such situations.

"That doesn’t feel great, obviously. That's not cool, but we have to take it," Klopp said in his post-match press conference.

He added: "We have still space for improvement. We make steps, but we have to improve, we have to improve further on and that's what we will do."

Klopp felt the performance of his players on Sunday was far better than in their league display against Brighton, but these are small comforts.

Liverpool are in a crisis that is only deepening as their German boss fails to deliver results, despite being backed in the transfer market, with Dutch World Cup star Cody Gakpo arriving this month from PSV.

They face Wolves in the league next weekend, before a derby against Everton and a trip to high-flying Newcastle United precede the Champions League first leg against Madrid.

"If we are in a better situation, 10 points more in the league and stuff like this and then you lose here at Brighton, you just say, 'Respect'. What they do is really good," Klopp said.

"But we are obviously in a situation where we constantly want to make the final step, and that's why it feels now especially bad in this moment because it didn't happen.

"But there were, again, steps in the right direction. You can imagine nobody wants to hear that any more, I cannot hear it any more, but it's still right. That means we have to go from there.

"We have to improve, we have to do better, the body language with a couple of boys has to be much better, defending in the formation has to be better from a few."

Klopp felt Liverpool lacked a little luck, with Lewis Dunk deflecting in Brighton's leveller from Tariq Lamptey's shot before the winner came from Kaoru Mitoma in second-half stoppage time.

"You should not forget that," said Klopp, "but we are still out and that's obviously the worst outcome of a game you can have."

Kaoru Mitoma's stunning stoppage-time winner secured Brighton and Hove Albion a 2-1 win over Liverpool on Sunday to dump the holders out of the FA Cup.

The tie appeared to be heading back to Anfield for a replay with the game finely poised at 1-1, but the in-form Mitoma netted a spectacular late goal to put Brighton into the fifth round.

Liverpool took the lead via Harvey Elliott during an entertaining first half, but Brighton were good value for Lewis Dunk's fortuitous equaliser nine minutes later.

Brighton's continued positivity in the second half looked to set to go unrewarded, but Mitoma's ball juggling and cool finish sparked bedlam at the Amex Stadium as Liverpool's FA Cup defence crumbled.

Jurgen Klopp defended himself from criticism amid a difficult season for Liverpool as he insisted he did not become a "bad manager overnight".

Liverpool are ninth in the Premier League at the season's halfway point, trailing leaders Arsenal by 21 points and fourth-placed Manchester United – who have played a game extra – by 10.

It is a far cry from last season when they entered the final weeks of the campaign with the possibility of winning four trophies.

They ended up with an FA Cup and EFL Cup double, losing out to Manchester City in the Premier League and Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

Liverpool have been badly impacted by injuries throughout the season, while some key players have struggled for form.

A lot of the criticism is falling at the feet of Klopp, but he spoke defiantly ahead of Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round clash with Brighton and Hove Albion.

"I didn't become a bad manager overnight," Klopp told reporters. "I was never as good as people probably said or not as bad as some people might think.

"But imagine if you [the media] were here today talking to another coach of Liverpool because last season we'd won all four trophies and I said, 'See you later, [I'm going on] holiday!'.

"Imagine if you saw a different [manager] and he has to explain these things and he tells you how it is. Nobody would listen!

"They'd say last season was great and this year is not great – so go!

"You have to have wide shoulders and really just take it. It's tough, I'm sorry, but we will go for it with all we have to get out of it and then play in a way that the people can't wait to go to the stadium again.

"Hopefully we can get through this together and get much closer again. From there we all know anything can happen.

"So far, we've not given the fans much this season, but we are still in two cup competitions, and we'll not give up in the league. Why should we?

"Other teams are doing really well and we respect them a lot, but we want to beat them and I will see how we can do that at Brighton."

Klopp does not want to blame Liverpool's problems entirely on their injury woes, though at the very least he believes they would be much closer to the top four had the likes of Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota not missed the majority of the season up to now.

"It was clear it would be difficult, but with lesser injuries I think we can agree we could easily have had at least five points more," he added.

"Okay, that still wouldn't make a brilliant season, but we would be fighting for the Champions League. That's a normal season.

"But injuries to decisive players have made it an especially average or bad season so far, and you cannot just replace them.

"On top of that, if you don't have time to train and you have three days until the next game, it's not like you can invent football in those one and a half sessions."

Mohamed Salah is "suffering" after seeing Liverpool's "well-drilled machine" frontline disbanded this season, according to Jurgen Klopp.

Sadio Mane left for Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich prior to this term, while Roberto Firmino has seen his role diminished after the arrival of Darwin Nunez and more recently Cody Gakpo.

Egypt international Salah remains the constant in Klopp's front three, though he has struggled in front of goal this campaign – converting just 11.7 per cent of his chances for seven Premier League goals.

That mark may seem poor for the three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner, whose previous lowest conversion rate for Liverpool was 14.4 per cent when he scored 19 in the 2019-20 campaign.

"Of course he is suffering," said Klopp ahead of Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round clash with in-form Brighton and Hove Albion. "It is specific, offensive play that requires a lot of work and a lot of information."

Salah, Firmino and Mane fired Liverpool to a Champions League crown and the Premier League title, though that front three are now a distant memory at Anfield.

"It was a well-drilled machine the front three, everything was clear what we were doing," the German added.

"You create a feeling about a lot of these things, about where your team-mate is and where to pass the ball without looking."

Gakpo and Nunez are among the new faces tasked with reinventing Liverpool's attacking fortunes but Klopp acknowledged it will take time for his side to adapt.

"Now we have Cody as a really important asset, like a connector, he can play the wing and the centre as well," he added.

"When Darwin is playing there he is obviously more high up, going in behind. We never played with a nine before, even when Sadio played in the position he was dropping in moments.

"It is all good if they would all be in and we could build something, but we haven't been able to do that yet."

Diogo Jota is nearing a return to bolster a Reds attacking line-up in desperate need of some form, yet Klopp believes Liverpool – who are ninth in the league – have greater concerns than a misfiring attack.

"If you had scored hundreds of goals in the past and now you are not scoring then that is the first thing you would think about but that is not our problem at the moment," he said.

"But usually you have a real basis to build on and that is what we don't have. The problem is you need time and nobody wants to invest time.

"I wish everything would be easier again and that already we had qualified for finals at the end of the season. This situation is not perfect but the basis of the last two games is something I like."

Jurgen Klopp once again lamented Liverpool's fixture list and suggested FA Cup ties should not be played on weekend days.

Liverpool head to Brighton and Hove Albion in the fourth round on Sunday, eight days on from their most recent match – a 0-0 Premier League draw with Chelsea.

It has been a rare week off for Klopp's men, who won both the FA Cup and EFL Cup last season, but the German is still not entirely pleased with his side's schedule.

"We're not famous for going long in the cups, apart from last year," he said at Friday's pre-match press conference. "Cups are difficult when you have midweek games.

"Now we have full weeks to prepare, but in our schedule, I'm not sure the FA Cup should be at a weekend. But we deal with it. It's not a problem for now."

Liverpool are aiming to avoid successive losses against Brighton for the first time ever following their 3-0 league defeat at the Amex Stadium earlier this month.

Klopp described that performance at the time as the worst he has ever seen from one of his sides in a coaching career spanning 1,000 matches.

The Reds have since defeated Wolves 1-0 in the previous round of the FA Cup and played out a stalemate with Chelsea, which leaves them ninth in the league.

While his side have won just one of their five matches this calendar year, Klopp is glad they have kept back-to-back clean sheets for only the second time this season.

"Clean sheets are massive for us. Everyone waits for free-flowing performance but that takes time and it starts with clean sheets," Klopp said.

"That Brighton game is still the worst game I have ever seen of a team of mine. Thank god as we have played a few games since then.

"The first half against Chelsea we were very disciplined and we didn't give them a lot. We have to do that again against Brighton, of course."

Liverpool have progressed from three of their five FA Cup games against Brighton, most recently winning 6-1 in a last-16 tie in February 2012.

However, since the 1925-26 season, only Wolves (30), Sheffield United (28) and West Ham (27) have suffered more fourth-round exits than Liverpool (26).

The Reds make the trip to England's south coast with a number of players still injured, but Klopp confirmed some key men are closing in on a return.

"Diogo [Jota], Bobby [Roberto Firmino] and Virgil [van Dijk] are a couple of weeks from joining training," he said.

"Arthur [Melo] is running a lot, so maybe two or three weeks before he joins team training, but he is looking good. Fabio Carvalho is still out and is not ready for Sunday."

Jurgen Klopp welcomed the return of the "passion" Liverpool have been lacking as a much-changed side beat Wolves 1-0 in an FA Cup third-round replay at Molineux.

Reds manager Klopp made eight changes to his starting line-up following an alarming 3-0 Premier League defeat at Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.

Harvey Elliott was among the players who came into the side and the teenager proved to be the match-winner, scoring the only goal with a stunning long-range strike in the 13th minute.

A first win in four matches gives the holders an opportunity to exact revenge on Brighton in a fourth-round tie at the Amex Stadium.

It was anything but a classic all-Premier League tie after a 2-2 draw at Anfield ensured the two sides had to do battle again, but Klopp was not concerned about entertainment value. 

He told BBC Sport: "It feels like ages ago we had a feeling of winning and playing well. We had to fight hard at the end, which we controlled for long periods. It is great and the reaction we wanted to see."

Klopp vowed he would not quit after the defeat to Brighton and urged his players to go "back to basics".

The German was impressed with the way they responded to a painful loss last weekend.

 "From the passion we showed, yes," he said. "It is my job to help the boys and find the formation where they feel good from the start. Stefan Bajcetic and the whole midfield was really compact, so it was difficult for Wolves to find the key players like Joao Moutinho. I liked the game a lot."

Elliott was named man of the match, but Klopp felt several of his players were candidates for the award.

He added: "It was good from Harvey Elliott, especially after an early knock to the ankle. He fought through, and the goal was exceptional.

"I had a few man of the match performances today. We played a really good first half, had good periods in the second, and in the end it was just passion to block the shots. A cup game, great."

Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool must "go back to basics" after they were thumped 3-0 by Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.

A Solly March double and a sublime Danny Welbeck strike condemned Liverpool to a sixth Premier League defeat of the season, with Klopp conceding afterwards that he was "very concerned".

The result left Liverpool ninth in the table, 10 points adrift of the top four having run Manchester City to within a point of the title last season.

The defensive performance at the Amex Stadium was particularly worrying, with Brighton holding 61.9 per cent of the possession and recording 16 shots at Alisson's goal.

Klopp acknowledged Liverpool needed to improve at the back ahead of his side's FA Cup third-round replay at Molineux on Tuesday, following the teams' 2-2 draw at Anfield on January 7.

"These are football problems, and you solve them with football," Klopp said. "To play better football than we did at Brighton should not be that difficult.

"We have to be compact, we have to defend. The pitch looks too big when we are defending.

"You always go back to basics. From there, you can make steps. All the success in football starts with solid defending, and that's what we have to do again.

"We have a lot of things to consider, we have two senior strikers available. We have to find solutions, that's what we do pretty much every day."

While this season has not gone to plan for Liverpool, they have the opportunity against Wolves to get their name into the hat for the FA Cup fourth round, as they bid to retain the trophy after beating Chelsea on penalties in last season's final.

They also have a chance to get revenge on Real Madrid for their 2021-22 Champions League final defeat with the teams set to meet in the round of 16.

Despite the poor first half of the campaign, Klopp does not feel Liverpool need a total rebuild, saying: "Too often this season, we didn't play to our potential. That's the truth.

"We had games that we played really well, but not often enough to be successful.

"We don't want to turn time back, we don't want to start at nil. It's not nil, but we have to start again.

"The good thing about a long career is that it's not the first time I've had a situation like this."

Jurgen Klopp refused to put the blame for Liverpool's FA Cup draw with Wolves on mistakes made by Alisson.

The Brazilian was at fault for Wolves' first goal, handing Goncalo Guedes an easy finish with a direct pass, while he also conceded a soft second to Hwang Hee-chan.

Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah both struck to ensure the holders did not suffer a shock third-round exit, but their combined efforts were not enough to prevent a replay at Molineux.

Speaking afterwards however, Klopp did not lay their problems at the feet of his goalkeeper, instead praising what Wolves brought to the table in an engaging contest throughout at Anfield.

"The goal should not happen, but we all know how often Ali saves our backsides," he told ITV Sport. "They had counter-attacks before then [too].

"It is always dangerous when [Adama] Traore gets the ball, we could see that. We came back with a fantastic equaliser. They got a foot in the game, and they caused us massive problems."

Liverpool came closest to an exit when Toti Gomes saw a finish controversially ruled out by the linesman's flag, with VAR unable to offer enough angles to confirm whether Gomes was onside.

The decision sparked a furious reaction from Julen Lopetegui, and Klopp acknowledged it was not an ideal situation for both teams.

"I'm not sure about their third goal," he added. "We have one picture where it may look offside.

"I can understand why they are angry about it. We don't want the VAR to just have one angle."

Cody Gakpo enjoyed a solid debut following his arrival from PSV, and Klopp was warm in his praise for the Dutchman.

"He fitted into the game," he added. "It was not easy for a first step. We cannot expect it to be perfect.

"He showed good signs. We have to get him in better positions, but that will come, no doubt."

Jurgen Klopp has reiterated his support for scrapping FA Cup replays ahead of holders Liverpool facing Wolves in the third round on Saturday.

Klopp has repeatedly called for FA Cup replays to be abolished in the past, and memorably allowed then-under-23s coach Neil Critchley to take charge of team made up entirely of youth players when Liverpool were taken to a second fixture by Shrewsbury Town in 2020.

FA Cup replays were removed for the 2020-21 season to avoid creating further fixture congestion in a campaign heavily impacted by COVID-19, and a report from The Times said leading figures in the English game discussed doing so permanently on Friday.

Klopp would be in favour of such a move, though acknowledged it would need to be accompanied by support for the smaller clubs that benefit from them financially. 

Asked if he would support the removal of replays at Friday's news conference, Klopp said: "Yeah, as always.

"We have to find other solutions. The lifeline for smaller clubs cannot be problems for the clubs that play every three days.

"There must be other solutions, and how often did it happen that a smaller club came through because of this extra game? 

"There's money involved, I understand that, and nobody wants to kill the smaller clubs, they have the same right to exist as all of us.

"But we cannot solve all the problems by playing more games – that's not possible and that's why I would be in favour of that, but I've said so many things in the last seven-and-a-half years and not many have happened."

Meanwhile, with Liverpool having a full week to prepare for their Premier League trip to Brighton and Hove Albion after facing Wolves, Klopp is not planning to make sweeping changes.

Asked how he would approach his team selection for Saturday's game, Klopp said: "It doesn't change. The only time it will change is with the amount of games around, so if you play say, Saturday then Tuesday, you have to think about it.

"In our case, we played Monday last time, then Saturday, then Saturday again. So it's clear we will line up as good, as strong and as experienced as we can. There will not be rotation because of the competition or whatever, no."

Liverpool ended a 16-year wait to lift the FA Cup last season, beating Chelsea in a penalty shoot-out following a goalless draw at Wembley Stadium – as they did in the EFL Cup final.

However, Wolves have eliminated Liverpool from the competition twice during Klopp's time in charge, beating them 2-1 as a Championship side at Anfield in 2017 before winning by the same scoreline at Molineux two years later.

Virgil van Dijk will be out of action for over a month after sustaining a hamstring injury in Liverpool's defeat to Brentford earlier this week, Jurgen Klopp has confirmed.

Defender Van Dijk was one of three players substituted at half-time in Liverpool's damaging 3-1 loss at the Brentford Community Stadium, which saw them lose ground in the race for a top-four Premier League finish.

Klopp described Van Dijk's withdrawal as precautionary after the game, but reports later in the week suggested the Netherlands captain's injury was worse than initially feared.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's FA Cup third-round tie against Wolves, Klopp provided an estimated timeframe for Van Dijk's return and described his absence as a significant setback.

"On Virg, it's a surprise and obviously a big blow, as he didn't feel a lot," Klopp said at Friday's pre-match press conference. 

"I took him off actually, to avoid the risk, maybe he would have tried [to play on] and stuff like this.

"In the end, the diagnosis was pretty harsh. They talk about weeks – more than a month. 

"We have to see how it goes but we have other centre-halves. Everything is okay for the team but for Virg, it's hard for him. He's played an incredible amount of games over the last few years.

"We cannot use him on the pitch, only off the pitch, so we will do that."

Asked whether the congested festive fixture list had caused Van Dijk's injury, Klopp responded: "It's his hamstring. 

"He never had an issue with muscles or mentioned anything, between the games he was recovering.

"There's nothing to say about it, we did nothing different. It was one sprint."

As well as Saturday's meeting with Wolves, Van Dijk now appears likely to miss Premier League fixtures against Brighton and Hove Albion and Chelsea before the end of January.

Klopp will be desperate to have Van Dijk available for a crucial spell next month, in which Liverpool face Merseyside rivals Everton and fellow top-four contenders Newcastle United before playing the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Real Madrid.

Liverpool's top-four hopes were dented as Brentford capitalised on woeful defending to win 3-1 on Monday.

Brentford tasted success against Liverpool for the first time since 1938 as goals from Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbuemo, after Ibrahima Konate's own goal, sealed victory in the absence of talisman Ivan Toney at Brentford Community Stadium.

Losing 2-0 at half-time, Jurgen Klopp rang the changes, including replacing Virgil van Dijk, and Liverpool had hope thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's 50th-minute header.

Yet Mbuemo pounced on Konate's mistake late on to kill the game off and snap Liverpool's four-match winning streak in the Premier League.

An Mbeumo shot was palmed away for a corner early on, but Brentford had their opener from the resulting set-piece – Konate diverting into his own net from Mbeumo's inswinger.

Brentford's threat from corners continued, with Wissa twice having the ball in the net, only for the offside flag to twice come to Liverpool's salvation.

Wissa would not be denied a third time though, heading home from Mathias Jensen's cross, with Alisson unable to scoop the ball away before it crossed the line.

Klopp made a triple-change at the break and it looked to have made an instant impact when Darwin Nunez lashed in, but a VAR check showed he was offside.

Liverpool had one back shortly after when Trent Alexander-Arnold's sublime cross was met by Oxlade-Chamberlain on his 100th league appearance for the Reds.

Yet having weathered the storm, Brentford wrapped up a memorable, deserved victory with six minutes remaining, muscling Konate off the ball before drilling beyond Alisson.

Jurgen Klopp was left to rue an opening 15 minutes that "killed our confidence" and conceding "completely unnecessary goals" after Manchester City knocked Liverpool out of the EFL Cup.

City beat the holders 3-2 in a thrilling tie at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday to secure their place in the quarter-finals.

Erling Haaland put the Premier League champions in front by volleying in Kevin De Bruyne's pinpoint cross, but Fabio Carvalho equalised against the run of play 20 minutes into both sides' first game after the World Cup break.

A sublime touch and finish from Riyad Mahrez restored City's lead right at the start of the second half, only for Mohamed Salah brought the Reds level again just 80 seconds later.

City were the better side, though, and Nathan Ake headed in a terrific cross from the outstanding De Bruyne to win it just before the hour-mark.

Liverpool manager Klopp told Sky Sports: "We played a formation that we haven't played for a long time, and we had to change in pretty much our last [training] session. You could see that, we needed time to adapt.

"In the first 15 minutes we had real problems and that killed our confidence and conviction a little bit."

Klopp was frustrated that De Bruyne was allowed too much time to whip in the cross for Haaland to open the scoring and switched off again to give the Belgium playmaker the chance to set up Ake following a short corner.

He added: "The goals we conceded were completely unnecessary. We had to be more switched on, especially for the third goal. Also the first goal, we should deny the cross.

"There are a lot of things we can build on and that's what we will do. It's a result we have to live with now."

James Milner was withdrawn in the first half due to a hamstring injury, but Klopp revealed he is hopeful he has not done any significant damage.

Trent Alexander-Arnold played no part due to a virus, while Virgil van Dijk is set to return to the squad for the Boxing Day fixture at Aston Villa after featuring for the Netherlands in the World Cup.

Jurgen Klopp would welcome the prospect of fresh investment at Liverpool, saying the Reds need to add "proven quality" to their squad.

Earlier this week, The Athletic reported Fenway Sports Group (FSG) were open to selling Liverpool, although the Reds' owners have since clarified they are simply willing to "consider new shareholders".

Klopp reaffirmed his own commitment to the club on Thursday, and has now said new investment would be a positive development if it enables his side to "take risks" in the transfer market.

"In the structure we had, we were obviously able to spend money, but we always had to look and say, 'what did we earn?' That was always the situation, it was clear," Klopp said at a pre-match news conference ahead of Liverpool's meeting with Southampton.

"The two biggest transfers we did in the past, with Ali [Alisson] and Virg [Van Dijk], we all know how it happened. 

"We got some money from Barcelona [for Philippe Coutinho] and spent it wisely, I would say.

"For me, how we did it so far brought us to where we are. But fresh money is no mistake, let me say it like this. Nothing gets cheaper, and not only because of the inflation rate. 

"Sometimes you have to spend. We are really happy to give all our young kids a chance, and I'm so positive about the impact they will have in the future. 

"But around it you have to, from time to time, throw in proven quality. In an ideal world, they are young as well, and not 35! So yes, from time to time, you have to take some risks, and we will see. 

"I have no idea what will happen, but I am positive about it. If in the end it is not positive, then I can start worrying, but I just think everything will be fine."

Jurgen Klopp says he remains "committed" to Liverpool amid rumours of Fenway Sports Group (FSG) potentially looking to sell the club.

The Reds beat Derby County on penalties after a goalless 90 minutes on Wednesday to reach the EFL Cup fourth round, but many of the questions after the match surrounded FSG's statement earlier in the week.

On Monday, The Athletic reported FSG was "inviting offers" to sell the club, but the Boston-based company later clarified they were willing to "consider new shareholders" while remaining "fully committed" to Liverpool.

When quizzed on whether a potential sale may affect his managerial position, Klopp told reporters: "For me it means nothing.

"Whatever happens, I really like how we work together with our owners, but if that would change, I'm committed to the club.

"As far as I know, they're looking for investors and I thought actually that makes sense.

"We work really close together with FSG. It was and is a great relationship until now and it will not change and whatever happens we will see and we will deal with it."

Asked whether the statement had any impact on his team's build-up to the game with Derby, Klopp replied: "No impact at all.

"It didn't distract the preparation at all. The players didn't ask me but if the players want to ask me, I can tell them everything."

When the press conference turned to events on the pitch, Klopp was effusive in his praise for backup goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher after his three shootout saves helped Liverpool see off League One Derby at Anfield.

Klopp made 11 changes from the weekend victory over Tottenham, and although Derby pushed his young side all the way to spot-kicks, Kelleher came up big to keep the holders' hopes of retaining the trophy alive.

Klopp was delighted for the 23-year-old after the match, saying: "We never hold him back, he is exceptional, absolutely exceptional.

"They were three really good penalties, they all go in the corner. He saved them anyway.

"He came back from holiday and was injured, it took a really long time to get him back to training and back to speed. But obviously he's ready now.

"He's a modern goalie, calm as you like, can play football and on top of that can catch balls and keep the ball out of the net in a really good manner. I'm over the moon for him."

A much-changed Liverpool side needed penalties to overcome League One Derby County after a goalless 90 minutes ended with the holders securing their place in the fourth round.

Jurgen Klopp made 11 alterations from the weekend's victory at Tottenham, and Derby held their own despite the 43-place disparity in league position.

The Rams' resistance made it all the way to the final whistle, but Caoimhin Kelleher saved three Derby penalties to see the Reds through.

Liverpool's escape keeps one of their best chances of silverware this season alive, with the Reds already 15 points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal.