Aston Villa 5-0 Liverpool: Reds name youngest ever team

Liverpool sent out their youngest ever starting XI in a competitive match in Tuesday's 5-0 Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat to Aston Villa.

Klopp's cup kids

Although it is not unusual for the bigger clubs to rest a number of their star players for the League Cup, this situation is different. After winning the Champions League in June, Jürgen Klopp's team earned the right to represent UEFA in the Club World Cup, which begins for them on Wednesday night.

With the first team away, the prospects of the future were therefore given their chance at Villa Park, Liverpool Under-23s coach Neil Critchley taking charge of the side in Klopp's absence.

The youngest team that Liverpool had previously sent out was in a 2017 FA Cup tie against Plymouth Argyle. That side featured the likes of Loris Karius, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Divock Origi and Ben Woodburn. The average age of that team was 21 years and 296 days.

That record was smashed against Villa, as a Liverpool side including the likes of Caoimhín Kelleher, Ki-Jana Hoever, Sepp Van den Berg, Yasser Larouci, Pedro Chirivella and Harvey Elliott came in at an average age of just 19 years and 183 days.

Liverpool's record-breaking line-up

Liverpool XI: Kelleher, Hoever, Boyes, Van den Berg, Gallagher, Kane, Christie-Davies, Chirivella, Elliott, Longstaff, Hill.

Villa overwhelm Liverpool's youngsters

Liverpool's inexperienced side were well beaten in Birmingham, as strikes by Conor Hourihane and Wesley, either side of a Jonathan Kodjia brace and a Morgan Boyes own goal, saw Villa ease to a thumping win over the Merseysiders.