After being knocked out in Round 4 of both the FA Cup and Capital One Cup last season, Brendan Rodgers was keen to do well in this year’s cup competitions, stating: “The cup competitions are important as well as our league campaign this year - we'll be giving absolutely everything to get as far as we can.”

So when Kopites saw that the Northern Irishman had made only three changes to the 17-man squad that travelled to Aston Villa, they must have been confident that they would be in the next round.

Their confidence seemed to be justified too, after an early Raheem Sterling goal put the Reds in front before the in-form Daniel Sturridge gave Liverpool a two-goal cushion for the first time this season.

But Notts County manager Chris Kiwomya had other ideas. It may not have been a Champions League Final, but considering the gap in league positions between the two clubs, it was an almost Istanbul like half time team talk. Yoann Arquin headed a goal back for the Magpies, before Adam Coombes stunned Anfield when he tapped in from Arquin's cross to level the scores.

The Reds face Manchester United on Sunday, and David Moyes would have been smiling all night. Not only did the Reds have to play an extra 30 minutes, but Aly Cissokho, Joe Allen and Kolo Toure all left the field due to injuries. While most Reds fans were concerned over whether the Ivorian could play on Sunday after seeing him being stretchered off, the Kolo Toure Facts Twitter page tweeted: “Times like this I wish Eva Carneiro was part of the LFC staff.” Priorities lads!

Despite being down to 10 men due to Toure’s injury, the Reds managed to book their place in the third round of the tournament with goals from Sturridge and Henderson to finish the match 4-2 in their favour, but at what cost? Three injuries, and their first team for Sunday recovering from 120 minutes. It raised questions among Reds fans whether Rodgers should have played the kids, and saved his first team for United.

There was praise for Henderson from most fans contacting the official Liverpool TV channel, as they got in touch the Reds’ high profile panel of Chris Kirkland and Phil Babb. The Englishman has often been criticised for his performances since his £16million move to Anfield, but the midfielder was on form during the evening, leading to one caller suggesting he could be a future Liverpool captain.

While that is most likely an isolated opinion, the former Sunderland man did put in a strong performance. However, only Sunday’s result against rivals United will tell if Rodgers’ decision was the right one, as well as the severity of the three injuries suffered.

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