Carabao Cup finalHow Liverpool and Chelsea reached Wembley

Third round

Liverpool faced Norwich City at Carrow Road and recorded a convincing 3-0 win.

Takumi Minamino opened the scoring in the fourth minute, before Caoimhin Kelleher then saved a penalty from Christos Tzolis.

Divock Origi doubled the Reds' advantage shortly after half-time, with Minamino grabbing his second to complete the scoring 10 minutes before the end.

The evening was significant for youthful trio Conor Bradley, Kaide Gordon and Tyler Morton, who made their senior debuts.

"The kids did exceptionally well, I have to say," Jürgen Klopp said afterwards.

Chelsea, meanwhile, faced a home tie with Aston Villa that went the distance. Following a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes, the hosts won a penalty shootout 4-3.

The Blues struck first in the 54th minute with a Timo Werner header, though they were quickly pegged back by an equaliser from Cameron Archer.

The game then went to penalties as Villa's Ashley Young hit the crossbar and Marvelous Nakamba had his attempt saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Fourth round

Chelsea were paired with another Premier League side as they hosted Southampton. Again, the tie was decided by penalties.

Thomas Tuchel's men took the lead through Kai Havertz's header in the 44th minute. However, parity was restored two minutes into the second half with a Che Adams equaliser.

The game then went to a shootout, where Reece James netted the decisive spot-kick after misses from Theo Walcott and William Smallbone.

Liverpool played the following day when they travelled to Championship side Preston North End.

The visitors, who handed a senior debut to 18-year-old Harvey Blair, took the lead in the 62nd minute through Minamino's left-footed poke.

And the tie was settled six minutes before the end with an acrobatic finish from Origi, clinching a place in the quarter-finals.

Klopp said post-match: "As a team we can play better, but individually I saw a few really nice performances and that's absolutely OK. It's all about getting through to the next round, that's what we did."

Quarter-finals

Klopp's men took on Leicester City at Anfield in what would prove to be a thrilling last-eight tie.

The Foxes raced into a 2-0 lead after 13 minutes courtesy of Jamie Vardy's brace. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain did pull one back but James Maddison restored the visitors' two-goal advantage from long range.

However, Liverpool staged a second-half fightback through Diogo Jota's finish and a Minamino 95th-minute equaliser to take the contest to spot-kicks.

Jota converted the winning penalty after Kelleher had made two saves, prompting brilliant celebrations at L4.

"I loved them before but I fell in love again," Klopp said. "Because it's such incredible character what they show more often than not."

Chelsea found themselves against Thomas Frank's Brentford in the quarters and got the job done in 90 minutes.

It took until late in the second half to find a breakthrough, with Pontus Jansson's own goal quickly followed up by a Jorginho penalty.

Semi-finals

In order to reach their second domestic cup final under Klopp, Liverpool would need to get past Arsenal over two legs.

In the first meeting at Anfield, the Reds were unable to break down Mikel Arteta's determined Gunners, who had Granit Xhaka sent off after 24 minutes.

But the second leg in London saw Jota net in either half to book a spot at Wembley.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, who laid on a brilliant assist for the second goal, reacted: "We have performed very well tonight and it's what we deserved, to be honest."

His manager added: "What the boys put out tonight was really special."

In the other semi-final, Chelsea strode past Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 on aggregate.

A Havertz opener and Ben Davies own goal at Stamford Bridge gave the Blues a healthy advantage going into the return fixture, where Antonio Rudiger's header secured a 1-0 win.

Tuchel reacted: "We are very happy because Wembley is waiting, full house, cup final – this is where you want to be as players and coach."