LATEST TRENDS

Dele Alli's second-half strike prevented a shock at Wembley as Tottenham were made to earn a 1-0 win over Barnsley in the EFL Cup third round. On the back of a frustrating 0-0 home draw against Swansea City, the hosts had to wait until the 65th minute for England star Alli to break the resilience of the second-tier visitors. Mauricio Pochettino retained five of his XI from the weekend as he handed first starts to Fernando Llorente and teenage defender Juan Foyth. And Llorente should have broken the deadlock after half an hour when he headed over from Kieran Trippier's corner, while Liam Lindsay also failed to get a close-range header on target with Barnsley's best chance of the opening period. Chelsea loanee Ike Ugbo regularly threatened as the Tykes grew in confidence after the restart, but the Premier League side's class eventually told when Trippier got away down the right and put the opening goal on a platter for Alli. Pochettino introduced Eric Dier to help ...

Liverpool's EFL Cup campaign came to an early end as second-half goals from Shinji Okazaki and Islam Slimani gave Leicester City a 2-0 win at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday. Substitute Okazki - on in place of the injured Leonardo Ulloa - was in the right place to pick up a loose ball inside the penalty area to break the deadlock in the 65th minute. Strike partner Slimani settled the third-round tie in style 13 minutes later, sending a left-footed drive flashing beyond goalkeeper Danny Ward to get his third goal in the competition this season. The result means Liverpool - beaten finalists in 2016 - are still yet to record a win in September, a worrying four-game rut they will hope to stop on Saturday when the two teams meet again at the same venue in Premier League action.