Liverpool Kop it again from Arsenal's special reserves

The Arsenal second-string team gave their Liverpool counterparts one hell of a football lesson on their home turf on Tuesday evening -- to the tune of 6-3.

The earlier postponement of their Carling Cup quarter-final tie seemed to have no ill-effects on either team as they went for each other's throats from the start. Both began with only two players who played in Saturday’s FA Cup -- Kolo Toure taking over the Arsenal captain's armband. One wonders if a spell is cast on it, as everyone who wears it seems to perform extremely well.

Gilberto Silva scored three in as many matches in the absence of regular captain Thierry Henry, and the Frenchman marked his return as skipper with a goal, and had a huge hand in two others in the 4-0 rout of Charlton. Following all that, Toure and his defence were great the whole night on Tuesday. Never mind the three goals they conceded, there was no way anyone would have stopped them -- one a trademark Steven Gerrard blockbuster volley.

Goalkeeper Michel Almunia had a good game as well, making two acrobatic saves to keep out what seemed to be certain goals, and showed great ability in handling crosses. Arsene Wenger must be glad to have such a headache when he chooses his defence line-up for their next match, with Johan Djourou forming quite a strong partnership with Toure in the centre of defence, and Phillipe Senderos doing reasonably well in his last match. Jens Lehmann will have to watch his back, as Almunia has also shown that he has great ability. A plus would be that Almunia is a lot younger than Lehmann; he certainly has a bright future ahead.