ANFIELD, LIVERPOOL // Arne Slot will have the opportunity to open his Liverpool trophy account in the middle of next month after his side comfortably booked its place in the Carabao Cup final.

Liverpool had fallen behind in the first leg to a late Lucas Bergvall goal — controversial after he had escaped a second booking only minutes earlier — but Spurs had gone out three out of the last five times they had gone into a League Cup semi-final second-leg with a lead.

Cody Gakpo fired into the corner for Liverpool after a dominant first half and Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai and Virgil van Dijk added the second, third and fourth goals in the second. Here are the five things Liverpool.com spotted as the game unfolded.

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Darwin Nunez excels

Curtis Jones and Darwin Nunez were slightly surprising starters given that Alexis Mac Allister and Luis Diaz were both available and on the bench. But the pair played well. Jones kept things ticking along in the middle of the field, often dropping deep to pick up possession from his defense; Nunez didn't have many chances but worked the Spurs backline and shifted them out of position.

It was Nunez who won the penalty kick superbly scored by Salah to put Liverpool in front in the tie and it was direct runs like that which caused Spurs problems all day long. Starting Nunez was something of a surprise but it worked a treat. This was the best he has played for some time as Arne Slot's faith proved genius.

Dominik Szoboszlai's best performance in a Liverpool shirt came in the 3-6 win over Spurs earlier this season. He too was very good while Gakpo was clinical, scoring his fifth Carabao Cup goal of the season. While Arne Slot had made four changes to his starting XI, there was no drop-off in quality — a testament to the depth of his roster.

Richarlison silenced

Boo-boy Richarlison was involved in a mini-confrontation with Van Dijk early on and that was never likely to be a good idea. He was determined to make an impact but only managed to draw the ire of the Anfield crowd.

The ex-Everton man was jeered every time he went near the ball after the Van Dijk clash (which he might have been anyway, in fairness). In the game, he was kept quiet by Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate and by half-time had gone off injured.

Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou will be ruing his latest injury setback with so many players sidelined at the moment. The Liverpool fans, however, saw it differently, taking great delight in the Brazilian's misfortune. As he thumped the grass, his exit from the game was confirmed.

Conor Bradley proven right

"We need to be better with the ball," Conor Bradley said on Sky Sports before the match kicked off. "At Tottenham, we didn't keep the ball that well, but hopefully we can overturn that 1-0 deficit."

Spurs tried to slow the game down with the opening quarter littered with stoppages but Liverpool was always likely to come out on top. Like Bradley said they needed to be, the Reds were impressive in penning their opponent back and being unrelenting. A somewhat makeshift backline was put under scrutiny, and it was never likely to be able to cope.

This is the kind of soccer that Slot wants from side: dominant and controlling. That can't happen all the time but for the majority of the 90 minutes here, it was implemented. Eventually, it felt inevitable that Liverpool would score enough times to go through.

Caoimhin Kelleher's easy night

The Carabao Cup has been Caoimhin Kelleher's competition this season, with Alisson Becker only present between the sticks in the first leg of this tie because he needed the minutes. The Brazilian, as was the case under Jurgen Klopp, has tended to sit out the domestic cups and been saved for the more important ones.

That makes sense for two reasons. For one, he doesn't have a perfect injury record. Secondly, Kelleher is a superb back-up option, though he didn't need to show it here. The 26-year-old barely touched the ball with his hands throughout the game, and he was solid in possession with it at his feet. He will get the final, quite rightly.

Newcastle United at Wembley awaits

Newcastle United, beating Arsenal by four goals to nil over two legs in the other semi-final, awaits in the final. The Magpies, who lost the 2023 final to Manchester United, will provide a stern test at Wembley on March 16.

Liverpool, though, will enter that game as the favorite. By then, talk of the Q-word — quadruple — might even have emerged. Arne Slot will do his best to avoid that for as long as possible but the way things are going, it is inevitable that it will be uttered sooner rather than later.

The win here means Liverpool will have more matches, but it has the strength of roster to cope. Slot has ensured his team stays fit in the main, with Trent Alexander-Arnold — likely out for days rather than weeks — the only absentee. For Liverpool, there is no reason that this form cannot prove sustainable.