Aston Villa beat Liverpool’s youngest-ever side 5-0 with a double by Jonathan Kodjia helping them into the League Cup semi-finals on a strange night at Villa Park on Tuesday.

With runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool playing in FIFA’s Club World Cup 24 hours later in Doha, they fielded a starting lineup consisting mainly of reserves and youth team players with an average age of 19.4, a club record.

While they acquitted themselves well against a more experienced Villa side, which showed 10 changes from the weekend Premier League defeat by Sheffield United, they were taught a harsh lesson in Liverpool’s heaviest League Cup defeat.

The Merseyside club’s senior players and manager Juergen Klopp, watching on TV in Qatar where they face Monterrey in the semis on Wednesday, would have been impressed over the way their team started with 16-year-old Harvey Elliott catching the eye.

But Villa took the lead in the 14th minute when Conor Hourihane’s free kick went through a crowded area and into the net with Kodjia initially claiming a touch.

Morgan Boyes, one of five Liverpool debutants to start, deflected Ahmed Elmohamady’s free kick over his own keeper Caoimhin Kelleher three minutes later before 30-year-old Kodjia ran through on his own to slot home the third goal in the 37th.

Villa added a fifth goal in stoppage time with record signing Wesley finishing clinically, having been sent clear by Trezeguet after coming off the bench.

The victory see Villa advanced to the semi-finals for the first time since the 2012-13 season.

Reuters