Arsenal maintain perfect start as Tottenham suffer another setback at Liverpool

Arsenal extended their winning start to the season to six matches in all competitions with a 4-2 League Cup victory over Ipswich, while Tottenham’s difficult campaign continued with a 3-1 defeat by Liverpool.

The contrasting fortunes of the north London rivals were laid bare on Tuesday as Arsenal made wholesale changes to their team but still comfortably overcame their fellow Premier League side in the third round.

Sixteen-year-old Max Dowman strengthened his growing reputation by scoring early in both halves. Noni Madueke and Mikel Merino were also on target as the English champions established a 4-0 lead.

Dowman became the youngest player in Champions League history last year, aged 15 years and 308 days, and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta urged caution over the teenager’s development.

“He is only 16 years old and we have to be careful,” Arteta said of the attacking midfielder.

“We don’t want to stop him, but we need to develop him. We’re fully aware of what he needs and he will have full opportunities to play.”

Arsenal’s performance also demonstrated the depth available to Arteta as they pursue success across several competitions.

“That’s what we want, to face every game, every competition with the same mentality, attitude and desire,” he said. “And so far we are doing it.”

Tottenham’s only win in six matches this season came against second-tier Charlton in the previous round of the League Cup. In the Premier League, they have drawn twice and lost twice without scoring.

They did at least find the net at Anfield, where Conor Gallagher headed in from a corner in the 69th minute after Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo had given Liverpool a 2-0 advantage.

Dominik Szoboszlai settled the tie in the first minute of stoppage time with a powerful long-range strike. Tottenham finished with 17 attempts, although most were off target.

“We have to shoot more times and we have to shoot better,” Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi said. “We have to finish better the clear situations.”

Tottenham are not involved in European competition this season, leaving the FA Cup, which begins in January, as their only realistic remaining route to silverware.

De Zerbi was already looking towards Saturday’s Premier League match against Aston Villa.

“I don’t know if the click is [coming] on Saturday or not,” he said. “Because we have enough qualities to score many goals with these players.”

Fulham and Brentford were the other Premier League teams to progress to the fourth round. Fulham won 3-2 away to second-tier West Ham, while Brentford beat third-tier Reading 2-1.

More third-round matches will be played on Wednesday and Thursday.