Tottenham Edges Liverpool in League Cup Semi-Final

Liverpool manager Arne Slot expressed outrage over referee Stuart Attwell's decision not to issue a second yellow card to Tottenham's Lucas Bergvall before he scored the winning goal in a 1-0 Carabao Cup semi-final first leg. Slot argued that the failure to send off Bergvall, who had already been booked, significantly impacted the match's outcome. Bergvall's late tackle on Kostas Tsimikas allowed Tottenham to capitalize on a counter-attack shortly after, leading to the decisive goal. Despite Slot's claims, Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou defended the decision, stating that officials had consistently applied the advantage rule, which does not require a yellow card unless the tackle is deemed cynical. Liverpool will now face a challenging task to overturn the deficit in the second leg on February 6. This defeat ended Liverpool's 24-match unbeaten streak across all competitions, intensifying the pressure on Slot during his first season at the helm.