In today's EFL Cup quarter-finals, holders Liverpool booked their place in the semi-finals with a 2-1 win over Southampton at St Mary's thanks to goals from Darwin Núñez and Harvey Elliott.

Their manager, Arne Slot, was absent from the match as he serves a ban for accumulating red cards this season.

Núñez, who had been heckled by Saints fans earlier in the game, got on the scoresheet in the 24th minute after centre-back Jan Bednarek's miscued shot and goalkeeper Alex McCarthy's slip. Nunez put his finger to his lips in a gesture to the crowd after beating McCarthy.

Elliott doubled the Reds' lead eight minutes later, latching on to Cody Gakpo's pass and unleashing a low, hard shot. Cameron Archer pulled a goal back for the home side in the 59th minute with a curling shot from inside the area.

"We came into this game knowing the circumstances that Southampton were going through and knew they were going to come out fighting and we were ready for it," Elliott told Sky Sports.

The match was a tale of teams at opposite ends of the Premier League table, with Liverpool at the top and Southampton - who sacked manager Russell Martin after Sunday's 5-0 home defeat by Tottenham Hotspur - in last place with just one win.

Arsenal and Newcastle United also progressed to the semi-finals, with the last place up for grabs on Thursday when Tottenham host Manchester United.