More than five years ago, Liverpool fielded what was then their youngest-ever XI in history in a 5-0 defeat to Aston Villa in the League Cup, but where is the squad now? Owen Collins takes a look.
On December 17, 2019, the Reds travelled to Villa Park for a humiliating 5-0 defeat. Or, at least, it would’ve been humiliating had anything close to the Reds’ first team lined up.
But with the entire healthy squad on the other side of the world in Doha for the Club World Cup, and with the powers that be refusing to consider a postponement, what was then the youngest-ever side in their history took to the pitch, many of them making their senior debuts.
The result might have not gone Liverpool’s way, but it will be a night many remember – so where are the young (and very young!) Reds that were led by Neil Critchley now? Let’s take a look.
Goalkeeper: Caoimhin Kelleher
Appearances: 59*
Of all the youngsters that took to the turf that night, there can be no question about who’s had the best Liverpool career since.
Having only made his debut against Milton Keynes Dons two rounds earlier, it was a bit of a culture shock for the Irishman, as he conceded five goals for the second game in a row (having also let five in against Arsenal in the fourth round, plus four penalties!).
A lesser player could’ve let this humiliation define them. Instead, Kelleher has forged a reputation as probably Liverpool’s best No. 2 in history, dislodging Adrian in subsequent seasons before making a serious attempt to replace Alisson, the best in the world.
A ‘keeper in every sense of the word!
Right-back: Ki-Jana Hoever
Appearances: 4
The noise around Hoever was reaching fever pitch as he rocketed through the academy set-up, eventually making his debut as a 16-year-old against Wolves in January 2019, and notching his first and only goal for the club against MK Dons.
Like many youngsters with massive hype, however, Hoever never quite made the grade at Anfield, featuring only once more after the Villa game, in a similarly emerging (and emergency line-up) against Shrewsbury in an FA Cup fourth-round replay.
Since picking up Club World Cup and Super Cup medals as an unused substitute it’s been downhill, with an ill-fated spell at Wolves failing to ignite his career. Loaned out to PSV Eindhoven, Stoke City and now Auxerre, he remains on the books at Molineux but a Premier League career looks beyond him.
Centre-back: Sepp van den Berg
Appearances: 4
Fans weren’t sure what to expect when the lanky Dutchman became the Reds’ first signing as European champions in July 2019. Earmarked as one for the future, Van den Berg made four appearances in his debut season, all in cup games, before joining Preston on an 18-month loan in 2021.
Further temporary spells at Schalke 04 – during which he seriously dislocated his ankle and the club were relegated – and Mainz followed, his performances at the latter catching the eye in particular.
For a while this summer it looked like he might have earned a place in the squad as fifth-choice centre-back, but instead he joined Brentford, where he has already tripled his Liverpool tally, including 10 appearances in the Premier League.
Centre-back: Morgan Boyes
Appearances: 2
Boyes followed in the footsteps of Liverpool hero Gerry Byrne when he scored an own goal on his debut against Villa.
The Welshman only made one more appearance in red, as an injury-time substitute against Shrewsbury in the FA Cup, before joining Fleetwood Town on loan the following summer. He had another debut to remember for the Cod Army, lining up against Everton in the EFL Cup.
Although couldn’t do much to prevent a 5-2 defeat, his then-manager Joey Barton praised his potential. After leaving Anfield in 2022, he has since turned out for Livingston, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Greenock Morton, where he currently plays.
Left-back: Tony Gallacher
Appearances: 1
He signed for the academy in January 2018 and despite a solid career with the U23s he never added to his solitary start for the seniors.
A commendable adventurousness saw him depart for the MLS in 2020, with a loan spell in Toronto, although the ongoing pandemic meant the Canadian side played all their games over the border in the US, meaning Gallacher didn’t actually see much – if any – of his new home city.
After another year with the U23s, he joined St. Johnstone on a permanent deal and is currently a free agent after his contract expired in the summer.
Midfield: Isaac Christie-Davies
Appearances: 1
Poached from Chelsea‘s academy, there were high hopes for the youngster, who was actually on the bench for the FA Cup tie in 2019 that saw Hoever – and a certain Curtis Jones – make their debuts.
After making his bow against Villa, he left Anfield on loan the next month, signing for Belgian side Cercle Brugge, but an untimely knee injury prevented him from ever playing the club.
Released by the Reds the following summer, he joined Barnsley but never really made a dent there either, playing more games during a six-month loan spell in Slovakia with Dunajska Streda than he did for the Tykes.
In 2022 he was given a free transfer back to Belgium, where he is finally carving out a steady career with KAS Eupen, despite relegation last season.
Midfield: Pedro Chirivella
Appearances: 11
One name unlikely to spring to mind in the long list of players to don the armband is Chirivella, but the diminutive Spaniard can forever say that he was – for 90 minutes on a drab Tuesday night, at least – Liverpool captain.
Chirivella made his debut under Brendan Rodgers in 2015/16 and went on to feature five times overall in Jurgen Klopp‘s first year. A series of ever-diminishing loan moves, however, saw him slip out of the first team picture altogether.
The club was reportedly keen to tie him down to a new deal. Instead, he left for Nantes in 2020, where he has made well over 100 appearances, helped the team win the 2022 Coupe de France – their first trophy in two decades – and as of this year has claimed the captaincy too. A born leader, clearly.
Midfield: Herbie Kane
Appearances: 2
After an eye-catching loan spell at Doncaster Rovers the season before, Liverpool opted not to send Kane out on loan in 2019/20, with a view to his playing a part in the League Cup squad.
True enough, he made his debut at MK Dons and was an unused sub against Arsenal, before earning his first start against Villa. It turns out the ‘League Cup squad’ line was accurate, though, as he never made a matchday squad again once the Reds were knocked out, and he was loaned out to Hull City the following January.
After half a season with the Tigers, Kane joined Barnsley, where he became a regular, and played in nearly every league game in the last two seasons. On the move again this summer, he stayed in League One and now plies his trade for Huddersfield.
Right wing: Harvey Elliott
Appearances: 123*
You don’t really need us to tell you where Elliott is now, do you? The second-youngest debutant in the club’s history, Elliott is a rare example of a starlet who has lived up to the early promise.
He made his Premier League debut (for Liverpool, at least), later that season and ended up only one appearance shy of a winner’s medal (which would’ve seen him become the youngest player ever to win the Premier League).
A season-long loan move – often the death knell for a promising career – followed, at Blackburn Rovers, before he came back to Anfield and picked up where he left off.
A devastating injury early in the 2021/22 season looked like it might derail matters, but by February he was back in action. Now established as a first-team regular, Elliott has added over 100 appearances in Red and two more trophies to his collection – might this year be the year he gets that Premier League medal at last?
Left wing: Tom Hill
Appearances: 1*
In summer 2020, Jamie Carragher declared Tom Hill – Liverpool’s highest-ever shirt number, wearing the No. 99 against Aston Villa – as “first team-ready.”
Sadly, the highly-rated prospect suffered an ACL injury a month later that put the kibosh on any such breakthrough, and is still making up for lost time. He became under-18s captain on his return, as well as signing a new contract with the club, a show of faith that was further displayed when he travelled to Asia with the first team in pre-season 2022.
More injuries, major and minor, plagued him however, and other than a place on the bench against USG in a Europa League dead-rubber this time last year (now with the comparatively lowly No. 83 shirt) Hill hasn’t come close to first-team action again. There’s still time, Tom.
Striker: Luis Longstaff
Appearances: 1
Poached for the academy from Newcastle, Longstaff – no relation to the Magpies’ Matty and Sean – was on the bench against MK Dons before being given his debut at Villa Park.
He never made a matchday squad again, and returned to the academy, prior to a loan spell in Scotland with Queen’s Park in the 2021/22 season. On the expiry of his contract, he returned to Scotland, first with Cove Rangers in the Championship before moving to Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2023.
Substitutes
Leighton Clarkson (3 apps)
This cup match was his club debut and in 2020/21 we would make his Champions League bow with a start against Midtjylland. That was to be his final appearance, however, with a successful loan spell at Aberdeen in 2021/22 translating into a permanent transfer. He’s still at Pittodrie scoring the occasional screamer!
Jack Bearne (1 app)
After his solitary game in red, Bearne left for Greenock Morton in 2023, before joining Northern Premier League Division One West’s Hednesford Town, in level eight of the football pyramid.
You might have caught him live on the BBC last month as the Pitmen held National League Gateshead to a 1-1 draw in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round, before registering a 3-1 upset in the replay.
James Norris (2 apps*)
Norris has stayed with the club’s academy. Proving that good things come to those who wait, he was back on the bench against Girona in the Champions League for the first time under Arne Slot.
Unused substitutes
Elijah Dixon-Bonner (3 apps)
Made his debut under similar circumstances in the FA Cup fourth-round replay the following February. Dixon-Bonner made two further cup appearances in the quadruple-chasing season. He left Liverpool in 2022 and joined QPR, where he is starting to make an (even bigger) name for himself.
Ben Winterbottom (0 apps)
Even given Klopp’s penchant for bulking out matchday squads with academy keepers (Liam Hughes, anybody?) Winterbottom never came close to the first team again. Joined Brentford’s academy in January 2021 and was officially promoted to the first team this summer, in between loan spells with Welling United and AFC Fylde.
Tom Clayton (0 apps)
Highly regarded in the Liverpool academy set-up, the queue for first-team chances was sadly too long for Clayton, who joined Swindon Town in 2022. He’s become a regular for the Robins as they labour at the foot of the Football League.
Layton Stewart (1 app)
Close to a debut in 2019, the Scouser was forced to wait until December 2022 to make his senior bow, coming against Derby in the League Cup. Stewart signed for Preston North End on a permanent deal in 2023 and made sixteen appearances in his first season.
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