Holders Liverpool booked their berth in the Carabao Cup semifinals with a 2-1 victory over Southampton at a wet and windy St Mary's Stadium on Wednesday, thanks to goals from Darwin Núñez and Harvey Elliott.

Their manager Arne Slot was not on the sidelines as he served a ban for card accumulation this season.

Nunez, who had been goaded by Saints fans earlier in the game for a wild miss, got on the scoresheet in the 24th minute, pouncing after a miskick by centre-back Jan Bednarek and a slip by keeper Alex McCarthy. Nunez put his finger to his lips in a gesture to the crowd after finishing past McCarthy.

Elliott doubled the Reds' lead eight minutes later when he unleashed a low, hard shot from Cody Gakpo's pass. Cameron Archer pulled one back for the home side in the 59th minute with a curling shot from just inside the box.

"We came into this game knowing the circumstances that Southampton were going through and knew they were going to come out fighting and we were ready for it," Elliott told Sky Sports.

The game was a tale of teams at opposite ends of the Premier League table, with Liverpool at the summit and Southampton -- who sacked manager Russell Martin following Sunday's 5-0 home loss to Tottenham Hotspur -- in last place with just one win.

"We have to defend the trophy because the club won it last season, so we want to compete in every league and this is one of them, so we're happy that we reached the semifinal," said Slot, who watched the game from the press box.

Arsenal and Newcastle United also advanced to the semifinals with the final spot up for grabs on Thursday when Tottenham host Manchester United.