Koumas shines as Liverpool beat Tottenham to reach cup fourth round
Lewis Koumas stole the show as Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at Anfield on Tuesday night to reach the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
The Carabao Cup is England's knockout cup for league clubs. Liverpool won this third-round tie to progress, and Koumas, 20, was voted Liverpool's Player of the Match after a livewire display Liverpool FC.
He came close to scoring in the first half. He did not get the goal. He set the tone instead with pressing, running and hunger for the ball.
After the final whistle, Cody Gakpo handed the man-of-the-match award to Koumas. Koumas said he FaceTimed his mum afterwards to share the moment The Athletic.
His family were inside the stadium to see it. His mother, nan, granddad and sister watched from a box at Anfield The Guardian.
"I think how I play is ultimately the Liverpool way," Koumas said in an interview after the game. Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola agreed. "The energy he shows is contagious," Iraola said.
It has been a long road to this kind of night. Koumas is the son of former Tranmere and West Bromwich Albion playmaker Jason Koumas. Jurgen Klopp gave him his first Liverpool start more than two years ago, and he marked his full debut with a goal in a 3-0 FA Cup fifth-round win over Southampton.
Since then he has learned the hard way. A loan is a temporary spell at another club to gain experience, and Koumas has had three of them. He spent the 2024-25 season at Stoke, then the first half of last season at Birmingham and the second half at Hull.
This season feels different. Koumas impressed on Liverpool's pre-season tour of the US. Iraola told Richard Hughes, then the club's sporting director, that he wanted Koumas in the first-team squad and not sent out on loan again. He has since made his first Premier League and Champions League appearances as a substitute.
What makes this stand out is the timing. Koumas was due to turn 21 on the Saturday after the Tottenham game, the day before Liverpool travelled to Bournemouth, Iraola's former club. Already capped 12 times by Wales, he now has a performance at Anfield his family will talk about for years.
