Chelsea are out of the Carabao Cup after a fourth-round defeat to Liverpool on penalties (6-5) after a 1-1 draw in regulation on Wednesday.

Blues manager Xabi Alonso only made four changes to the starting XI, fewer than many expected, for the clash against Liverpool. Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia, and Danny Welbeck came in to replace Jorrel Hato, Levi Colwill, Geovany Quenda, and the suspended Cole Palmer.

Interestingly, despite the extra midfielder on the pitch, Chelsea still mostly played in a flat 4-4-2 system, specifically a 4-4-1-1, with Jordan Henderson operating as a number 10 behind Welbeck.

Gusto plays in the left-back position, instead of his natural right, which was occupied by Josh Acheampong.

Liverpool, meanwhile, fielded a more heavily rotated side. Andoni Iraola made seven changes, resting the likes of Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, and Alisson.

It was rather cagey for the most part in the first half. Liverpool had slightly more chances, but it was Chelsea who opened the scoring through Morgan Rogers’ penalty in the 40th minute. Ryan Gravenberch made a tackle on Moises Caicedo from behind inside the box and was punished for it.

Unfortunately for the Blues, Liverpool got their spot kick just three minutes later after a Fofana handball during a corner-kick situation. Cody Gakpo converted the penalty and levelled the score at Anfield.

More bad news for the visitors as Maxence Lacroix, who has started in 11 of Chelsea’s 12 games so far this season, picked up a hamstring injury. He was limping off the pitch and had to be replaced by Colwill just before half-time.

Alonso made his first substitutions in the 68th minute, and Estevao Willian was surprisingly not among the players introduced. Instead, the manager deployed Valentin Barco, Marco Palestra, and Emmanuel Emegha from the bench.

It was a special moment for Emegha, whose wait for his Chelsea debut finally came to an end after earlier struggles with hamstring issues.

Liverpool also made their moves, substituting in Wirtz, Isak, and Bradley Barcola late in the second half. However, the score stayed 1-1 in regulation time, and the cup tie had to be decided with a penalty shoot-out.

Pedro Neto, Rogers, and Lavia converted theirs, but Barco, who went fourth, unfortunately missed. Luckily for Chelsea, Konstantinos Tsimikas missed his chance to secure the win for Liverpool with their fifth penalty. 

Henderson made it 4-4 on penalties and forced a sudden death.

Mike Penders made an important save to prevent Gravenberch’s attempt, the seventh for Liverpool, but Emegha failed to capitalise before Fofana’s poor penalty sadly ended Chelsea’s run in the Carabao Cup. It ended 6-5 to Liverpool on penalties.

Here are five takeaways from Chelsea’s fourth-round Carabao Cup penalty defeat to Liverpool.

Chelsea created just two big chances throughout the game, and it was very obvious they were missing the creative spark from their two absent attackers.

The good news is that Palmer will be back in the squad for Saturday’s Premier League clash against Manchester United, but Chelsea will still have to fill the void left by Joao Pedro, who is not expected to be back before the international break.

The young goalkeeper made three important saves in the game, in addition to his penalty save.

This was certainly a much-needed confidence boost for Penders, who faced a lot of criticism for his poor display against Spurs.

Despite the cup exit, he should still be proud of his performance, and Chelsea could only benefit from a more confident Penders amid Emiliano Martinez’s injury absence.

The former Crystal Palace defender has proved to be crucial to Alonso’s plans since his arrival in the summer. This is evident from his minutes on the pitch, having played the full 90 in nine games prior to this.

It is safe to say that without the France international, playing a back three likely becomes a much less attractive option for Alonso. 

Many expected the Brazil international to finally get his chance in the starting line-up in the cup game. However, he did not even get to make the late cameo he usually makes.

It raises questions about his role in Alonso’s Chelsea plans and whether he has a future at Stamford Bridge.

In addition to losing one of their realistic chances at silverware, Chelsea will now only play Premier League matches until the FA Cup third-round proper begins in January.

While having to focus on just one competition for the rest of the year may come with benefits, this also significantly reduces the minutes Alonso can allocate to the fringe players. It could get a lot harder to maintain a happy dressing room.