Liverpool snuck through in the Carabao Cup fourth round on Wednesday after seeing Chelsea off on penalties.

It was not the best performance from the much-changed Reds, but with a little help from some poor Chelsea penalties, they are into another quarter-final.

Here’s how we rated the players as Andoni Iraola made seven changes ahead of the weekend visit of Arsenal. Ryan Gravenberch and Kostas Tsimikas, look away now.

Defence

Giorgi Mamardashvili: 6 – So loose with the ball at his feet. Almost let it roll under his boot after an innocuous back pass in the second-half, and nearly set Chelsea up for a long-range effort with a heavy touch when coming out to meet a ball forward. Redeemed himself with a super stop at his near post to save from Marco Palestra and saved crucially to keep Liverpool in the penalty shootout.

Joe Gomez: 5 – Another who was far too lax when in possession. Gave it away too often in dangerous areas while playing at right-back, but earns an extra point for a superb block to stop Morgan Rogers from scoring on the break. Got better the longer the game carried on, and it was good to see him complete 90 minutes, take the captain’s armband and smash a penalty straight into the top corner.

Ronald Araujo: 8 (Man of the match) – It has been a brilliant run of form for Araujo, and he was again Liverpool’s best player by a distance here. Looked thoroughly comfortable at centre-back, winning tackles, putting his body on the line and leaving it all out on the pitch. Superb.

Virgil van Dijk: 6 – Solid performance from the captain who led a much-changed side well. Came off with 20 minutes to play.

Kostas Tsimikas: 2 – Wasted a brilliant run from Rio Ngumoha with an undercooked ball across and soon let Pedro Neto past him too easily. Couldn’t get on Ngumoha’s wavelength all game in what ended up being a disastrous performance, topped off with a horrendous high penalty miss with Liverpool at match point.

Midfield

Trey Nyoni: 6 – Easily Liverpool’s best midfielder in another comfortable performance. Was not always secure with his final pass, but won the ball back well and always looked to keep the Reds moving in possession.

Ryan Gravenberch: 3 – His decision to come through the back of Moises Caicedo in the Liverpool penalty area was one of the most baffling decisions you’ll ever see a footballer make. Was poor in other parts of his game as well, being caught in possession when reacting slowly on the edge of the Reds’ box in the second-half before playing a woeful through-ball that reached neither Florian Wirtz nor Cody Gakpo. Inevitably missed his penalty in a confidence-sapping display.

James McConnell: 4 – McConnell was good against Tottenham in the previous round, but struggled here against better opposition. Booked in the first-half, he couldn’t assert himself in any way. Perhaps not cut out for this level.

Attack

Lewis Koumas: 3 – Should not be starting games for Liverpool in any competition. As ever worked hard but he is painfully limited, even more so when playing from the right. Rightly taken off with McConnell as the first of Iraola’s changes.

Cody Gakpo: 4 – Gakpo might have scored, but this was not a good performance. Didn’t look threatening at all through the middle, and though he took his penalty well and improved when moving to the left, he

Rio Ngumoha: 6 – Started brightly, with one mazy run from the halfway line a real highlight. Was easily Liverpool’s most dangerous player early on and Chelsea players couldn’t get near him at times, but the 18-year-old faded through the second-half.

Substitutions

Florian Wirtz: 3 – Should’ve scored from Gakpo’s knockdown but shot straight at Levi Colwill, who might have stopped it from going wide anyway. Seconds later overhit a simple through-ball to Gakpo. Scored his penalty when many at Anfield might have expected him to miss, but this was still a poor cameo.

Bradley Barcola: 5 – Injected some quality when coming on from the bench, testing Mike Penders with a low effort from the edge of the box, but couldn’t maintain his level. Still stepped up to score arguably the best penalty of the lot.

Jeremy Jacquet: 6 – Very solid when coming on in Van Dijk’s left centre-back position.

Alexis Mac Allister: 6 – Did well when coming on and stuck his penalty away brilliantly.

Alexander Isak: 5 – Couldn’t get into the game at all after coming on but, like, Mac Allister, buried his spot-kick fantastically.