Jota and Gakpo double as Liverpool come from behind to beat West Ham | Carabao Cup

The faces may change in the technical areas and on the pitch, but the story remains the same for Liverpool and West Ham in the Carabao Cup. It was another sad story for the Hammers, who lost 5-1 at Anfield for the second year in a row in the competition and further proof of how rich Arne Slot is, with the defending champions ultimately progressing with ease.

While Liverpool's head coach used the depth of his squad to produce another hugely encouraging performance, the problems are mounting for his West Ham counterpart Julen Lopetegui. His team were dangerous at times but lacked the efficiency shown by Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah, Liverpool's goalscorers on the night they qualified for the fourth round at Brighton. They also collapsed defensively after Edson Álvarez's deserved red card. Lopetegui's problems were not limited to his team. He sustained a calf injury when he angrily stamped on the ground after a blatant miss from Crysencio Summerville and left the stadium on crutches.

“We didn't deserve that result,” said David Moyes's replacement in the summer. “We were in the game, even better than them at times, but we had a goal disallowed before we scored. It was a shame there was no VAR and we could have been given a penalty for a clear handball in the second half. The next time they scored, they scored. We then had a very good 20 minutes to equalise, but with the third goal and the red card it was much more difficult. The last part of the game was very bad for us, but we didn't deserve that.”

The slow start to Lopetegui's reign was not the only thing that worried West Ham's numerous fans. During the opening minutes of the match, they carried a banner reading “Stop exploiting loyalty” in protest against rising ticket prices and the abolition of some concessions at their club. A productive spell midway through the first half helped to lift the visitors' spirits, but only temporarily.

The first goal, minutes after Danny Ings had a goal disallowed for offside against his former club, was an absolute disaster from Liverpool's perspective. Jean-Clair Todibo headed Jarrod Bowen's corner to Álvarez, who struggled to get the ball under his feet and when he finally did, he was denied by Conor Bradley's tackle. Wataru Endo tried to clear the ball but managed to fire the ball past Jarell Quansah and into the unfortunate defender's goal.

West Ham's joy lasted all of four minutes. The hosts equalised thanks to a fluid move and Jota's sharp reactions. The Portugal international broke through the visitors' defence with a direct pass that released Gakpo on the left. Gakpo's fine cross found Federico Chiesa, who fired an acrobatic volley into the ground to Lukasz Fabianski. Before the West Ham goalkeeper or Max Kilman could intervene, Jota darted in front of the pair as soon as the ball left the Italian international's feet and equalised with a brave header from close range.

Jota again troubled West Ham as Liverpool took the lead shortly after half-time, and minutes after Joe Gomez survived fierce appeals from the visitors for handball in his penalty area. There was more to come when Bowen's cross found Kostas Tsimikas. Referee Andy Madley was again unmoved, rightly so as it turned out, and cautioned Lopetegui for his protests. Replays showed the ball hitting the left-back in the stomach.

Liverpool's lead was largely down to the determination and vision of Curtis Jones. The midfielder first set up the goal with a strong, surging run from deep in his own half of the pitch and then, after exchanging passes with Gakpo, played a perfectly weighted ball into Jota's path in the box. The striker showed his usual precision in front of goal, finding Fabianski's bottom left corner.

West Ham briefly threatened to equalise, but Kilman and Carlos Soler both missed excellent chances. Their evening got even worse after that. Salah, Chiesa's second-half replacement, sealed the match with a convincing finish into the roof of the evening after Fabianski had blocked an Alexis Mac Allister shot. Álvarez was foolishly shown his second yellow card two minutes later for a foul on Salah. Gakpo took full advantage, firing his first goal of the season into the near post after exchanging passes with Darwin Núñez and another low shot from Todibo deflected into the opposite corner.

“For two months, people just asked me if I wanted to sign new players,” said Slot, who made nine changes since Saturday's Premier League win over Bournemouth. “I kept telling them how many good players we already have here. We have a lot of good players.” That was clearly noticeable.