Stoke City vs Liverpool
Football League Cup Semi-final, Game 1
Today, 8:00 PM
Britannia Stadium
Having lost their particular Premier League installations at the weekend, both Stoke City and Liverpool will feel that they have focuses to demonstrate when they meet in the first leg of their League Cup semi-last at the Britannia Stadium on Tuesday night. The facilitating Potters are one-time victors of the opposition, while the guests from Merseyside have lifted the trophy a record eight times.
Stoke
At the point when Mark Hughes thinks back over Stoke's last couple of excursions, he is liable to harbor blended sentiments. There have been disillusioning annihilations delivered by Crystal Palace and all the more as of late West Bromwich Albion, while a goalless draw was likewise played out with West Ham United at Upton Park. On the other hand, his side have additionally lifted themselves against the purported greater clubs, which will undoubtedly fill him with certainty in front of Liverpool's visit to the Britannia Stadium.
The two Manchester clubs were both serenely discarded in the Potteries a month ago and Everton were additionally on the wrong end of a seven-objective thriller at Goodison Park. They have likewise been great in the League Cup, yet requiring punishment shootouts on two events. Luton Town and Chelsea were beaten from the spot, with triumphs to nil against Championship outfits Fulham and Sheffield Wednesday tossed into the deal. It implies that Stoke are currently very nearly coming to their first League Cup last subsequent to their triumph in 1972. Chelsea were the enormous top picks, given that they had won the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in the past two seasons, yet objectives from Terry Conroy and George Eastham secured triumph for the men in red and white stripes.
Liverpool
On the off chance that there was any uncertainty preceding Liverpool's outing to West Ham at the weekend, there can be no contention now that Jurgen Klopp's special night period is well and genuinely over. In spite of the fact that there were three 1-1 draws toward the begin of the German's residency, the Reds soon recorded great triumphs away at Chelsea, Manchester City and Southampton - the last of which was a 6-1 obliteration in the past round of the League Cup. From that point forward, however, the undertaking that lies in front of Klopp has ended up clear. West Bromwich Albion guaranteed a point from their visit to Anfield, however it is the away shape that will be bringing on the previous Borussia Dortmund head mentor the most concern. Of their keep going four matches out and about, Liverpool have lost three of them without finding the net. Truth be told, their just triumph amid that grouping came at the home of battling Sunderland, who at the time were winless in their past four apparatuses. Beside their demolition of the Saints, the Reds have not precisely set the world land in the League Cup this term. They obliged punishments to progress past League Two Carlisle United, before a restricted 1-0 win was recorded at home against Bournemouth. Having won the competition on a larger number of events than some other group, Klopp's men are gunning for a ninth triumph. The way things are their nearest adversaries to that honor are five-time champions Arsenal and Chelsea.
Straight on
Liverpool's late outings to the Britannia Stadium have delivered blended results, having won 1-0 there on the opening day of the season to take after on from the 6-1 whipping that they were managed in Steven Gerrard's last amusement for the club in May. The League Cup, however, is the place they have the high ground over Stoke. On their approach to winning the opposition in 1995, 2001 and 2012, Liverpool showed signs of improvement of the Potters in one of the prior rounds. The meeting in 2000 was especially significant as Liverpool hit eight objectives past Stoke, who were then of the Second Division. Robbie Fowler netted a cap trap that night, with safeguards Markus Babbel and Sami Hyypia likewise on the scoresheet.