It didn't matter how the penalty shoot-out ended between Liverpool and Carlisle United in the League Cup on Wednesday. It didn't matter that Adam Bogdan performed heroics for the Reds. It didn't matter that a man with hair like a show poodle choked at the last. Liverpool were already losers.
Carlisle United, mid-table in the fourth flight and put together for a fraction of the first payment for new Liverpool arrival Roberto Firmino, had already won. There is a gulf between these two clubs that could be measured in light years. Never mind that Liverpool had 47 attempts on or off target, they should have obliterated their Cumbrian guests.