COMMENT: The Reds are short on quality in the final third and the Brazilian would help provide some inspiration to a side heavy on industry but lacking in craft and guile

On a night when Shakhtar Donetsk manager Mircea Lucescu reiterated Alex Teixeira’s €50m valuation, Liverpool’s showdown with Stoke provided a reminder as to why premium prices are placed on attackers who possess the X Factor in the final third. 

With a place in the League Cup final at stake, neither side displayed the sort of quality deserving of a trip to Wembley at Anfield on Tuesday with four shots on target and an offside Marko Arnautovic goal to show for over 120 minutes of action. 

Even the penalties in the second-leg tie had to go down to sudden death with the teams locked at 1-1 on aggregate; Jurgen Klopp’s men edging the shootout 6-5.