BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) – The youngest ever Liverpool team to play a competitive game was taken to school in the English League Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday.
With its best players in Qatar for the Club World Cup, Liverpool was forced to field its youngsters - with an average age of 19 years, 182 days - against Aston Villa and they were beaten 5-0.
Four of the goals came in the first half for Villa, which reached the last four of a competition it has won five times - most recently in 1996.
As for Liverpool, it was the club's first domestic loss of the season and it was hardly unexpected given the circumstances.