Chelsea exited the Carabao Cup after a penalty shootout defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday night.

A penalty from Morgan Rogers put the Blues 1-0 up, but they were quickly pegged back when the hosts got a penalty of their own after a Wesley Fofana handball, which Cody Gakpo duly converted.

Xabi Alonso‘s side put in a better account of themselves in the second half, but they could not find a winner in normal time. Fofana was the player who ultimately missed the crucial spot-kick.

Press the next page as we give our Chelsea player ratings following the Carabao Cup fourth-round tie…

Goalkeeper and Defence

GK – Mike Penders – 8/10 – made two great saves to stop Ronald Araujo and Bradley Barcola. The performance will boost the Belgian’s confidence following his clanger against Tottenham.

RB – Josh Acheampong – 7/10 – gave as good as he got against Rio Ngumoha, and he even made some forays forward himself using his pace.

CB – Wesley Fofana – 4/10 – the game will be remembered for his handball for the penalty and his crucial miss in the shootout. In open play, though, he did ok, for the most part.

CB – Maxence Lacroix – 5/10 – made up for his mistake after closing down Gakpo, but his night ended early after sustaining a hamstring injury.

LB – Malo Gusto – 3/10 – he was an embarrassment, to be honest. The fullback made several errors, including giving away the corner before Liverpool’s equaliser. He also seemed to be more interested in getting fouls off the referee.

Midfield

CM – Romeo Lavia – 7/10 – looked sharp despite not having played much football recently. His ability to retain possession is his best asset.

CM – Moises Caicedo – 5/10 – it was an up-and-down game from the Ecuadorian. He won the penalty and managed to produce a few decent passes.

However, when you are facing an inexperienced midfield like Liverpool’s, who had Trey Nyoni and James McConnell starting, you do feel Caicedo could have been more dominant.

CM – Jordan Henderson – 5/10 – played with plenty of energy, but he lacked any quality in possession.

Forwards

RW – Pedro Neto – 5/10 – the Portuguese international ran into cul-de-sacs and never threatened Liverpool’s goal.

ST – Danny Welbeck – 4/10 – barely had a touch. That wasn’t enitrely his fault, though, as Chelsea’s front three didn’t seem to be on the same wavelength.

LW – Morgan Rogers – 4/10 – took the penalty well, but the forward was very poor in open play. There was one opportunity in the second half when Rogers seemed to be in on goal, but he had such a heavy touch that the move was snuffed out.

It kind of summed up the England international’s evening. In the absence of Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer, Alonso would have expected him to step up to the plate, but he was strangely off colour, lacking his usual decisiveness in the final third.

Substitutes

Levi Colwill – 7/10 – performed well after replacing the injured Lacroix. Made a crucial block to stop Florian Wirtz from scoring the winner late on.

Emmanuel Emegha – 6/10 – his debut will be remembered for his missed penalty, but he did look a handful when holding up the ball.

Valentin Barco – 6/10 – the midfielder also missed a penalty in the shootout, but his introduction coincided with Chelsea getting to grips with the game. He offers a lot in possession.

Marco Palestra – 5/10 – had one standout moment when he forced Giorgi Mamardashvili into a good save, but a more natural finisher may have found the back of the net.