League Cup Fourth Round Preview: Stoke City vs. Liverpool
Liverpool have the chance to get their own back on Stoke City tonight in the League Cup fourth round, for September’s 1-0 defeat in the league.
Liverpool have the chance to get their own back on Stoke City tonight in the League Cup fourth round, for Septembers 1-0 defeat in the league. The two Premier League clubs will meet for the second time at the Britannia Stadium in less than two months, where the home side scraped a narrow victory, courtesy of a Jonathan Walters penalty. Many would too easily label this game as an away win, however, the stats would say otherwise. The Potters have lost only one of seven of their last League Cup home games and have found themselves featuring in the fourth round for the fourth season running. Their more high profile opponents have a very different story to tell, as the team from Merseyside are aiming to reach the last eight for the first time in four seasons and have kept only two clean sheets in their last 12 games. Stoke have made the Britannia somewhat of a fortress in recent times and it has proved difficult for even the biggest of teams to leave with any points. Tonight, they welcome the team who have won the League Cup the most times, with a record of seven victories in the final of this competition. The Reds last triumph was in 2003 and Kenny Dalglish has already expressed his desire to win silverware for the club. Liverpool striker, Dirk Kuyt, could overtake Roger Hunts club record of spending the longest time at Anfield without winning anything, so progressing in this competition is a high priority. Liverpool will face a familiar face in Peter Crouch, just one of Stokes summer signings that was brought in to help deal with the clubs busy fixture list this season. The home side will be playing their third game in six days tonight, so the mental advantage could be with the visitors, who will be looking for their first win since winning 2-0 away at Everton in the league. Since then, two 1-1 draws have been played out with Manchester United and Norwich respectively. Stokes Jermaine Pennant, who has a hamstring injury, is a doubt to face his old club, but Danny Higginbotham and Jonathan Woodgate may both return to the squad. Liverpool have their busy midfielder Lucas Leiva back after suspension and Daniel Agger, who featured in Saturdays draw at home to Norwich, may start. Predicted Line-ups:Stoke City: 29 Sorensen, 4 Huth, 17 Shawcross, 20 Upson, 30 Shotton, 12 Wilson, 24 Delap, 18 Whitehead, 26 Etherington, 19 Walters, 25 Crouch Subs: 27 Nash, 28 Wilkinson, 6 Whelan, 15 Diao, 40 Palacios, 33 Jerome, 9 Jones Liverpool: 25 Reina, 2 Johnson, 3 Enrique, 23 Carragher, 37 Skrtel, 8 Gerrard, 19 Downing, 26 Adam, 14 Henderson, 7 Suarez, 9 Carroll Subs: 32 Doni, 5 Agger, 38 Flanagan, 11 Maxi, 21 Lucas, 18 Kuyt, 39 Bellamy