Villa 5-0 Liverpool: Disordered kids take a lesson as Reds say bye to EFL Cup

Aston Villa secured a spot in the EFL Cup semi-finals with a 5-0 win over a Liverpool side made up entirely of youngsters.

Liverpool's youngest-ever team was no match for Aston Villa in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, as Dean Smith's side ran out comfortable 5-0 winners to book their place in the semi-finals.

The Reds had to name an entire squad made up of reserves and youngsters due to the first team being in Qatar for the Club World Cup, and Villa ultimately made light work of their visitors, who named an XI with an average age of 19 years and 182 days.

Under the guidance of Under-23s coach Neil Critchley, Liverpool started the encounter with purpose and could have taken an early lead, but Villa made the most of the let-offs and blew the Reds away, going into half-time four up thanks to Conor Hourihane, a Morgan Boyes own goal and a Jonathan Kodjia brace.

While Liverpool had conceded four times in the opening half of a match for the first time since Steven Gerrard's last match, away to Stoke City in May 2015, Villa were not dominant until after the break, though they only added one more through Wesley's late fifth.