Preview: LIVERPOOL vs Stoke City

Anfield should become a cauldron of noise tonight, as Jurgen Klopp leads his men out for the second leg of the semi-final of the Capital One Cup.

The match at Anfield represents Klopp’s first big chance of an appearance at Wembley and a possibility of silverware and the Reds’ manager is likely to field his strongest team possible.

The temptation is to field the same side that scored five on Saturday, but then that same side conceded 4 so it’s possible we’ll see a few tweaks here and there, with Jon Flanagan likely to get the nod.

Initially, it would seem sensible to have Flanagan replace Moreno after his nightmare at Carrow Road but with Nathaniel Clyne reportedly carrying a knock, he may get a start in the more familiar right back position.

Elsewhere at the back, Liverpool will no doubt continue with Kolo Toure and Mamadou Sakho, with Lovren only recently returning to full training, whilst Steven Caulker remains ineligible.

Further forward, it gets more interesting and there’ll be questions over whether or not one (or both) of Joe Allen and Adam Lallana deserve to start.

Allen has been impressive from the bench in recent weeks, scoring a couple of goals and generally looking the part. Whilst Lallana entered the match on Saturday to lay on a goal and score the eventual winner, looking very dangerous in the process.

Both player’s performances will raise questions about the likes of Jordan Ibe, Emre Can and Jordan Henderson, all of whom had mixed games at the weekend and all of whom have not been too impressive in recent weeks.

Whatever Jurgen chooses to do, it’s likely to be an interesting lineup, and the one position we’re almost certain to see remain the same is Roberto Firmino’s recent starring role as ‘false 9/striker’.

As for Stoke, they’re already off to a troubled start, having not won at Anfield since 1959. And despite that aberration at the Brittania at the end of last season, Liverpool have a superb record against Stoke in all competitions.

The visitors arrive at Anfield with injuries to key players, Ryan Shawcross and Geoff Cameron, whilst a number of big names are carrying various knocks and tweaks but will undoubtedly still be risked given the gravity of the match for both teams.

Having taken a narrow lead from the first leg, Liverpool will go into tonight’s game with a 1-nil lead, and provided the goalscoring exploits of Saturday continue, progression is looking very favourable.

How are you feeling about the match tonight? Give us your lineup and scoreline predictions in the comments below.