Jurgen Klopp has one firm hand on the ticket to Wembley in a Cup final with Liverpool just a step away from booking a berth in the Capital One Cup Final. They take a 1-0 lead to the second leg of the tie thanks to well taken goal from young Jordan Ibe at the Britannia earlier this month.
Mark Hughes will also be hoping to take the Stoke City to a cup final for the first time since 1972 and will have a huge task at hand to overcome the deficit and knock Liverpool out of the trophy. It will surely be an interesting game with both sides playing their own brand of football and Liverpool will go into the game as favorites at home against a Stoke City that lost to Leicester just three days ago.
Here is the Preview of the game along with the Team News, Predictions, Expected Line-ups and Betting Odds:
The 2nd leg of the League Cup semi final will be played on Tuesday the 26th of January at Anfield in Liverpool. The kick-off is scheduled at 7:45 pm BST (1:15 am on Wednesday IST).
Team News:
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp revealed that Nathaniel Clyne is not fully fit after picking up a knock at Carrow Road and may be replaced by Jon Flanagan in the starting line-up. Lovren is nearing fitness but Kolo Toure and Sakho are expected to keep their place at the heart of the Liverpool defense. Sturridge is still not fit and will miss this semi-final clash while Benteke may once again be happy with a place on the bench. Adam Lallana who scored the winner against Norwich may start this game against the Potters.
Mark Hughes explained that club captain Ryan Shawcross may not be fit to face Liverpool on Tuesday after he picked up a niggle and came off in the first half against Leicester City this weekend. Marko Arnautovic missed the game against the Foxes and may come back into the picture against the Liverpool side who have shown a vulnerability defending set pieces.
Expected Line-ups:
Liverpool:
Mignolet; Flanagan, Toure, Sakho, Moreno; Lucas, Can, Henderson; Lallana, Milner, Firmino.
Stoke City:
Butland; Johnson, Wilson, Wollscheid, Pieters; Afellay, Whelan; Arnautovic, Shaqiri, Diouf; Joselu.
Key Battles:
Flanagan vs Shaqiri:
The England international came back from an 18 month lay off due to injury in the game against Exeter. He will be rusty and will be up against the silky Xehrdan Shaqiri on the flank and will have a tough time keeping him quite. The Swiss international has not been at his best recently and will want to put in a good performance and take his team to Wembley. Flanagan on the other hand will be hoping to get into the books of Klopp as a regular starter with an impressive performance.
Firmino vs Wilson:
With the injury to Shawcross, Wilson will have to stay strong at the centre of the defense for the Potters against Liverpool. Firmino who is great form at the moment will surely put a lot of pressure on the back four and will hope to exploit any short comings in the Stoke squad. Wilson should stay strong and give the Brazilian no time or space on the ball or the inform forward can make it a long day for the visitors.
Key Stats:
Liverpool have won 4 and lost just one game in the last 5 encounters between the two teams.
Stoke won 6-1 in the last game of the last season but have lost both games this season at the Britannia against Liverpool with 1-0 score lines.
3 out of the last 5 meetings between these two sides finished in 1-0 victories for the Reds.
The Potters have taken just 4 points from 4 league games in the month of January after a good start to their season.
Stoke have not appeared in a Cup final since 1972.
Liverpool have scored 8 goals in the last two games in all competitions.
Betting Odds:
Liverpool: 4/5
Draw: 14/5
Stoke City: 22/5
Predictions:
Liverpool have some new issues at the back along with the set piece difficulties they have been facing at recent times. They shipped in 4 goals to the newly promoted side Norwich City in the last game and will surely be a bit shaky at the back. Mark Hughes has urged his side to exploit the weakness of the home side but a slightly better defensive display with the same kind of zeal in attack can see Liverpool surge their way into the final at Wembley.
Our Prediction:
Liverpool 3-1 Stoke City