Liverpool kept their four-pronged trophy pursuit alive by advancing to the League Cup semi-finals with a 5-1 win over West Ham.

Curtis Jones scored twice, with Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah also getting goals in the largely one-sided game at Anfield. Jarrod Bowen struck a consolation goal for West Ham.

Liverpool will play Fulham in the two-legged semi-finals and second-division Middlesbrough will face Chelsea.

“The performance, the scoresheet, the result and the individual performances put together make a team on the pitch,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said on Wednesday.

“We were brave in our positioning, our second ball game was exceptional.”

Liverpool can move atop the Premier League when they host first-place Arsenal on Saturday. They are in the Europa League round of 16 and start their FA Cup campaign next month.

The Merseyside club’s form this term is in stark contrast to last season when they missed out on qualification to the Champions League and failed to win a trophy.

Now they look set to mount a serious challenge for the title and are one round away from advancing to their first Cup final of the campaign.

Klopp’s team dominated the first half and took the lead through Szoboszlai in the 28th.

After the break, Darwin Nunez forced a save from Alphonse Areola with a shot that was headed for the top corner and Jones doubled the score in the 56th.

Gakpo made it 3-0 in the 71st with a low shot from the edge of the area that nestled into the bottom corner and Salah added another in the 82nd, converting when he went one-on-one with the West Ham keeper.

Jones then got his second and Liverpool’s fifth in the 84th with a run into the box and a decisive finish.

Xavi upset

Barcelona: Two second-half goals from Sergi Roberto rescued a 3-2 home win for champions Barcelona against bottom side Almeria in La Liga on Wednesday, putting an end to their three-game winless run in all competitions as they head into the Christmas break.

Barcelona, who were held to a 1-1 draw at Valencia and beaten 4-2 at home by leaders Girona in their previous two league fixtures, moved up to third on 38 points from
18 games.

“There was more suffering than I expected and than we deserved,” said coach Xavi Hernandez.

“We shot 30 times and gave away two goals. The first half is unacceptable for me as a coach.

“The second half, yes. We failed a lot and we’ve been doing that for a month and a half or two.

“The team lacked soul. The team does not have that soul that it had last season. Neither aggressiveness, nor concentration ... The one in the second half is the Barca that I want.”

Reuters