Although Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool have been wildly inconsistent so far this campaign, a Capital One Cup semi-final re-iterates just how bizarre their season has been. Despite suffering from their worst league start in 50 years, with them sat seven points adrift of a top four spot at the moment in time, they have excelled in this seasons cup competitions. 

Nevertheless, in the league, there is certainly fears of a crisis at Anfield, and they may be justified. They've had recent troubles at the back, not least from goalkeeper Simon Mignolet who has made error after error so far this season. He was "dropped indefinitely" by Rodgers, who is under-fire himself for not investing the £100million pounds that the club had to spend wisely enough, given the departure of their biggest player last season, Luis Suárez. It seems as if the Reds have struggled to move on from the Uruguayan, and you can tell that the team is simply just not the same anymore without their talisman leading the attack alongside English striker Daniel Sturridge, who has been out with recurrent injury problems since September. 

However, not everything is dark for Rodgers and his side as his side progressed to the semis of the league cup in splendid fashion. 

Bournemouth took the game to Liverpool at times, but the Reds showed maturity, experience and composure to efficiently dispatch of their opponents. Albeit, they were playing against a Championship side but it was a game who perfectly set to spring a surprise, with the underdogs often triumphing over the heavily-fancied teams in the cup, but despite the high-flying second-tier side's form, they could not handle the Reds at Dean Court . Liverpool bounced back from a disappointing derby defeat against Manchester United on Sunday with an important win to help improve the team's morale, and they face Arsenal this Sunday in another big game. Win, and suggestions that a crisis is on the cards will be delayed for at least another week, lose and the critics will continue on their post-mortem exam to try and identify exactly what has gone wrong for Liverpool this season. 

Their aspirations have taken a huge dent over the past few months, from talking about competing with the best in Europe to taking every tournament seriously given the fact that it is valid area to achieve success in. It is not the most prestigious trophy to win in the world, but the Capital One Cup could easily help Rodgers' case, especially if he is called into the firing line in the summer given their lacklustre performances so far this season. 

With that being said, Premier League leaders Chelsea will not be easy opponents either as they were drawn into an intriguing semi-final fixture, but the general consensus is that anything can happen, and Liverpool need to win the two-legged tie more than Mourinho's men.

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About the author
Mosope Ominiyi
Writer and editor - European football analyst, youth enthusiast. Email: [email protected]