Fofana's miss, Liverpool's reward

Ninety minutes weren't enough to separate these two, and neither were they supposed to be. Liverpool and Chelsea played out a 1-1 draw in normal time in the Carabao Cup fourth round on 28 October 2026, and the tie went straight to the spot. Both sides had chances to end it without the drama. Neither did.

The shootout had the usual back-and-forth tension that makes this competition worth staying up for, right up until Wesley Fofana walked up knowing a successful kick would keep Chelsea alive. He didn't get the finish he needed, and the miss was the moment that decided the whole tie. According to Sky Sports, it was that spot kick that sent Liverpool through to the last eight.

A cup run that keeps moving

Xabi Alonso's side have now found a way through another knockout night without needing to be at their fluent best over 90 minutes. The Carabao Cup doesn't care about league tables. It cares about who's still standing after the kicks are taken, and on this night that was Liverpool.

For Chelsea, the frustration will sit with Fofana specifically. The Athletic's framing of the night put his miss at the centre of the analysis, and it's easy to see why: shootouts are remembered by the kick that mattered, not the ones that went in.

Next stop: Bournemouth

Liverpool's reward is a quarter-final against Bournemouth, managed by Andoni Iraola, a side building their own reputation as one of the more awkward outs in the English game right now. Iraola's teams tend to press high and make even the bigger clubs uncomfortable in possession, and a cup tie against them is never the easy draw it might look like on paper.

Anfield's pull and the depth of Alonso's squad give Liverpool every reason to fancy progressing further. But Wednesday night was a reminder that cup football doesn't always reward the better team. Sometimes it just rewards the team that scores the next penalty.