Calvin Ramsay of Liverpool celebrates scoring Liverpool's second goal during the PL2 game at AXA Training Centre on October 26, 2025 in Kirkby, England. (Photo by Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)placeholder image
Calvin Ramsay of Liverpool celebrates scoring Liverpool's second goal during the PL2 game at AXA Training Centre on October 26, 2025 in Kirkby, England. (Photo by Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images) | Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool under-21s earned a 4-1 victory over Everton and some of the youngsters may be hoping to feature in the Carabao Cup.
It is a game that Arne Slot might have mixed feelings about.
A fixture in Liverpool’s least important competition could be regarded as an inconvenience. After four successive Premier League defeats and serious problems failing to be remedied, Slot may have hoped for a full week at the AXA Training Centre to work with his squad. By the Reds boss’ own admission, the 3-2 defeat by Brentford was the worst of his tenure.
Yet a Carabao Cup fourth-round tie against Crystal Palace is perhaps an opportunity to experiment with some ideas that could solve the Reds’ issues. It is an opportunity to potentially turn a corner.
However, Slot could head into the encounter with options depleted. Curtis Jones’ withdrawal at Brentford means he could be unavailable, while Ryan Gravenberch and Alexander Isak were unable to feature. And with Jeremie Frimpong absent for a period because of a hamstring issue, Slot may not want to risk Conor Bradley or Dominik Szoboszlai for that matter at right-back.
There is the option to play Joe Gomez on the right-hand side of defence. He came on at Brentford to play in that role. But Gomez is likely to feature centrally as at least one of Virgil van Dijk or Ibrahima Konate will be rested.
Therefore, Slot could look to promote from the under-21s. After their 4-1 victory over Everton in the mini Merseyside derby yesterday, there will be several fledgling talents who hope they can thrust their way into the first-team plans. One of those might be Calvin Ramsay after scoring against the Toffees.
The right-back is in his fourth year as a Liverpool player, but has had a frustrating period. Signed from Aberdeen for £4.2 million in the summer of 2022, he has made only two appearances which came in his maiden season. A knee injury meant that he required surgery before he had a series of disappointing loan spells. Ramsay struggled for regular minutes at Preston North End, Bolton Wanderers, Wigan Athletic and most recently Kilmarnock.
He remained at Liverpool in the summer yet despite being aged 22, he has not been around Arne Slot’s squad. Instead, he has been confined to the under-21s although the one-cap Scotland international might be happy for regular game time. Ramsay has played eight times for Rob Page’s youngsters and donned the captain’s armband three times.
Against Everton, Ramsay headed the young Reds back in front after Keyrol Figueroa’s opener was cancelled out by Francis Gomez. Figueroa would go on to notch a hat-trick to earn Liverpool the bragging rights.
Interestingly, Ramsay was substituted in the 59th minute. Therefore, it is a possibility that the decision was made to keep him fresh with the Palace game in mind.
Meanwhile, fellow youngsters Rio Ngumoha and Trey Nyoni may be in contention to start. Ngumoha came off the bench at Brentford and the club’s best prospect. The winger etched himself into Liverpool history when he became the club’s youngster scoring aged 16 and 361 days to earn a 3-2 win over Newcastle United in August. Nyoni, meanwhile, was an unused substitute in the capital and started the 2-1 win over Southampton in the third round of the Carabao Cup
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