Xabi Alonso has leapt to the defence of one of his young Chelsea stars ahead of Wednesday night's clash against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.

Xabi Alonso has already confirmed that Mike Penders will remain between the sticks when Chelsea face Liverpool. The 21-year-old goalkeeper had a full Premier League debut to forget at Stamford Bridge on Saturday night, as Tottenham Hotspur enjoyed a 2-0 win over the Blues.

Penders was at fault for the Lilywhites' opener, misjudging the flight of a corner and punching the ball into his net. Up until the final quarter of an hour or so, the Belgium international had done well, but his teammates hadn't done him any favours, botching build-up and squandering chances to go ahead.

Suddenly, the floodgates opened, and Mathys Tel doubled the visitors' lead. Despite Penders' best efforts, the Blues lost to Spurs on home turf for the first time since April 2018, when Dele Alli netted a brace.

Speaking to club media after the game, Alonso leapt to the defence of his shot-stopper and confirmed that he will start against Liverpool in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.

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"It’s part of the business; you need to deal with mistakes, and we keep confidence in Mike, and he will be in goal against Liverpool," said the Chelsea manager. "We win, and we lose together, and it’s part of the job to deal with mistakes, myself as well as everyone.

"We support Mike and Geo [Quenda] as well, the guys starting their first [Premier League] games. He will want to prove he can do better, and we also have to show that."

Maxence Lacroix echoed the sentiment. The Blues defender said: "He is a young goalkeeper and he has a lot of talent. He will learn from this.

"This can happen in football careers and in life; everyone makes mistakes, and we have to be with him, and we are going to be with him. We are behind him. He will help us this season, and now we have to help him."

Previewing the clash at Anfield, Lacroix added: "It’s a big game for us. We want to go far in this competition, and it’s good that we have a game like this now.

"We have to move on and work on some details to be stronger in certain moments and change some situations. We have to show the reaction of a competitor.

"We want to show another face, we want to win there, and it’s going to be a big game."

Chelsea are undefeated in each of their last three games against the Reds, winning twice at Stamford Bridge and drawing once at Anfield. Calum McFarlane was still in charge on an interim basis when the Blues last faced Liverpool in Merseyside.

The former academy coach, who remains part of the backroom staff, first sparked rumours of Alonso's appointment when he suddenly decided to deploy a back-five...