The Reds’ Belgian goalkeeper Simon Mignolet was the hero with two saves, while Wales midfielder Joe Allen slotted the winning penalty.
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With Everton holding a 2-1 lead heading into their second leg at Manchester City on Wednesday there is the prospect for a first Merseyside final for 27 years, although the two teams did meet at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final of 2012 in which Liverpool prevailed. They all put in fantastic performances and I’d highlight Crouchy who, along with Marc Muniesa, hadn’t played for a long time.
“Manchester City or Everton, I don’t care, we will win the cup”, Klopp said.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has called on his players to show the same passion they displayed against Stoke City on Tuesday when they contest the League Cup final next month.
“You always remember Cup finals and semifinals because of the excitement and the atmosphere, and we want to make tomorrow a night to remember”.
Liverpool go into tonight’s second leg having been eliminated at the semi-final stage of both domestic cups last season, against Chelsea and Aston Villa.
“If you have the opportunity to win a trophy, you should not waste time, you should take it. You should try everything to get it. You need the players for this and they are ready to fight”.
Dejan Lovren could be back in contention after recovering from a hamstring injury that’s kept him out for three weeks – although Klopp suggests he may not be ready to start just yet.
Liverpool prevailed in a nine-goal thriller against Norwich City on Saturday, exposing their porous defence in the 5-4 league win, which enthused Hughes.
Stoke made four changes, including bringing in Crouch in an intriguing move after the home side’s recent struggles defending set-pieces. But Tuesday’s game in and of itself will contribute little to that, as Stoke fought hard and deserved the chance of a shootout with their 1-0 win over 120 minutes, and Liverpool still have much room for improvement at both ends.
“If the whole of Liverpool goes there, cool”.
“We got the goal that won us the game but not the tie”.
“Not the most easy situation sometimes for players if you’re in a good shape but you don’t play from the beginning”.
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There’s only one thing we can say for certain – if Liverpool lose the tie, Marko’s goal could prove to be VERY controversial.
