Iraola eyes Carabao Cup progress as Spurs visit Anfield

Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola has called on his side to use the home advantage at Anfield to advance to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, with Tottenham Hotspur visiting for a round-three tie on Monday night.

The Reds enter the contest having drawn 0-0 with Fulham in the Premier League at the weekend, and Iraola acknowledged the squad must quickly adapt to a congested fixture schedule.

"I said after Saturday's draw against Fulham that we need to adapt to the challenge of playing fixtures close together and tonight's game gives us a chance to start taking steps on that journey," the head coach wrote in his matchday programme notes.

"There is no point making excuses or complaining about the time that we have to recover. This kind of situation is going to happen many times this season, so we have to face it and make the best of it."

Iraola stressed that Liverpool's ambitions span all competitions, including a desire to remain in the Champions League for as long as possible, making cup progress a necessity rather than an option.

"We want to be playing in the Champions League for as long as we can this season and we also want to be in the cup competitions for as long as we can," he wrote. "Adapting to a quick turnaround in games is clearly not only something we want to be good at — it is an absolute necessity."

On team selection, Iraola said the lineup would be determined by factors including player recovery, training sessions, and availability, but guaranteed the chosen side would be set up to progress. He also indicated fringe players could receive opportunities.

"We have a number of players who deserve more minutes than I have been able to give them up to this point so that will come into my thinking," he added.

Iraola described the Anfield atmosphere as a privilege rather than a burden. "Every single Liverpool supporter who attends tonight's game will be doing so because they want to see us perform and to give us as much help as possible to do that. This is not a pressure, it is a privilege."

Liverpool have won the Carabao Cup — in all of its guises — a record 10 times.