After seeing his side beat Stoke City 6-5 on penalties to progress to the Capital One Cup final on Tuesday night, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp claimed his side will emerge triumphant regardless of who they face in the showpiece.
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Trailing 1-0 from the semi-final first leg at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke put in a fine display to level matters on aggregate as Marko Arnautovic fired home on 45 minutes.
Liverpool have scored as many goals in their last two games as they had in their previous eight matches in all competitions (eight).
Simon Mignolet, despite having a somewhat shaky game again under the high ball, stepped up to keep his nerve and make two saves during the shootout, denying Peter Crouch and later, in sudden death, Marc Muniesa, to give his side the win.
The second round of the Capital One Cup semi-finals kicks off today with an exciting game between Liverpool FC and Stoke City.
Stoke manager Mark Hughes, bidding to guide his club to a first League Cup final since they won the tournament in 1972, felt that his team had been “dominant” and were unfortunate to finish up empty-handed.
“I heard about it being the biggest thing, but only if you beat them”, Klopp told reporters at Anfield after Tuesday’s match. “When that presents itself, you really have to grasp it. It is an opportunity we are not going to allow pass by lightly”.
Hughes admitted the news was a blow, but said: “I’ve still got good players who can come in and they will be prepared and ready to go”. He is a good character’.
“The first 15 minutes I have no words for and we’ve had this situation three or four times this season”.
“We just couldn’t get that second goal even though we looked the likelier”.
Twice Liverpool had to score to prevent Stoke heading to Wembley – and twice the succeeded. It’s obvious we didn’t do it too well but we are a team and always work on our weaknesses’.
“He wants you to know exactly what he wants from you when he sends you on to the pitch”.
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As a result, we predict Klopp will ring the changes for the FA Cup home tie with West Ham after Stoke, but pick a side which resembles his strongest one tonight.
