Stoke away - League Cup Semi-final 1st Leg - 5th Jan

[RafaShanks]

Time to dust ourselves down and get ready for another battle.

 

Sturridge needs to start this. Could be our only chance of silverware this season.

 

Milner if fit or Allen with Can in midfield.

 

Smith for left wing?

 

Ibe needs another start.

 

Other than that, lets t*** these.

[Conrad]

Wouldn't have Ibe or Smith starting.

Lucas, Benteke and Firmino need dropping

 

let's hope Henderson and Sturridge start

[McBain]

Mig

 

Clyne

Moreno

Lovren

Sakho

 

Allen

Can

Henderson

 

Ibe

Sturridge

f*** knows

[Walrus]

Coutinho should be sent for a 10 day break somewhere. Caribia or Jamaica perhaps.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Walrus

[Red Yoda]

--------------------Mignolet

 

Clyne-------Lovren------Sakho-------Moreno

 

-----------Henderson----------Can

 

Ibe-----------------Teixeira--------------Smith

 

---------------------Sturridge

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

need to make sure we're still in the tie come the 2L here

[downunder]

Smith isn't good enough to start in a semi IMO

 

Hasn't Bogdan played all the games in this cup?

[Falconhoof]

Brad Smith hasn't done much wrong, gets a cracking cross over. Why don't you think he can start, what faults are you concerned about ?

[downunder]

i think others are better, they may mot be performing, but I would be putting out our strongest team, I would play the likes of him on Friday.

[Walrus]

Brad Smith hasn't done much wrong, gets a cracking cross over. Why don't you think he can start, what faults are you concerned about ?

He should've gone for a shot instead of a pass.

[Rory Fitzgerald]

I'd advocate Smith and Ibe purely for some defensive work. We've conceded too many goals from crosses. If those 2 work together with the full back we might cut out more crosses.

 

Jon Walters (right) is ripe for this one playing on Moreno and Arnautovuc (left) is over 6 foot playing on Clyne.

 

Dog it out.

 

Dont want Coutinho, Firmino and Lallana starting as a trio. Havent shown enough going forward and not sure they'll give support going back.

[Cisse]

Bogdan

Clyne-Sakho-Lovren-Smith

Henderson-Allen

Ibe-Can-Milner

------Stu---------

[Red Yoda]

Bogdan

Clyne-Sakho-Lovren-Smith

Henderson-Allen

Ibe-Can-Milner

------Stu---------

Milner has just about got back onto the training pitch, he isn't ready to return is he?

[Molby]

The sooner we get Sturridge Coutinho and Firmino on the pitch together, the sooner we see what the future could look like

[Will]

Double Agents

 

In advance of our second meeting of the season, YNWA looks at the careers of some of those players have represented both Stoke City and the mighty reds over the years.

 

Current double agents

Right-back Glen Johnson was released by the reds last June, signing on for Stoke a month later. He had signed from Portsmouth for £17.5m in June 2009, and struck nine times in 200 games for the reds, helping us to claim the League Cup and reach the FA Cup Final in 2012. He has so far played twenty times for the Potters, without yet finding the back of the net.

 

Peter Crouch left White Hart Lane the Britannia Stadium for £10m on transfer deadline day in August 2011, and has so far bagged 43 goals in 161 outings and being voted their Player of the Year for 2011/12. He arrived at Anfield for £7m in July 2005 after a successful season with Southampton, when he had bagged sixteen goals in 33 games as the Saints were relegated. He struck 42 times in 134 reds games, despite not notching in his first nineteen outings, helping us to claim the FA Cup and FA Community Shield, but was sold to Portsmouth for a fee of up to £11m in July 2008.

 

Charlie Adam signed from Blackpool for an initial £6.75m in August 2011. He notched twice in 35 outings, helping us to claim the Carling Cup, but was sold to Stoke for a reported £4m in August 2012. So far he has so far netted eighteen goals in 115 games. Liverpool-born forward Mike Sheron joined Stoke from Norwich City in October 1995 in a swap deal for Keith Scott, bagging 39 goals in 77 games before moving to Queens Park Rangers in July 1997 for £2.5m. He is now coaching the Under-13’s at the Academy.

 

Recent double agents

Michael Owen joined the Potters in September 2012 after his contract with Manchester United had expired. He only scored once in nine outings, all bar one of which were from off the bench. He struck 158 times in 297 reds games, and moved on to Real Madrid in August 2004 for £8m, having helped us to claim the UEFA Cup, FA Cup, UEFA Super Cup, League Cup and FA Charity Shield. Oussama Assaidi was spending a second season on loan with the Potters, before moving on permanently to Al Ahli in Dubai last January. He signed from Dutch side SC Heerenveen for £2.4m in August 2012, failing to score in twelve reds games. He notched five times in 36 Stoke outings in total.

 

Winger Victor Moses signed from Chelsea on loan in September 2013, scoring on his reds bow at Swansea City, but only once more in 22 outings in total. He joined the Potters from the Blues in August 2014, netting four times in 23 games during his season there. Jermaine Pennant moved to the Britannia Stadium on loan from Real Zaragoza in August 2010 before signing on permanently for an initial £1.725m the following January. He appeared 88 times for the Potters, scoring four goals before his contract was terminated in January 2014. He arrived at Anfield in July 2006 for £6.7m after Birmingham City were relegated, and hit the target just three times in 81 reds games, helping us to reach the Champions League Final in his first season, moving to Spain in July 2009 after a five-month loan spell with Portsmouth.

 

Dominic Matteo notched twice in 155 reds games in defence before leaving for Leeds United in a £4m deal in August 2000. He joined Stoke City on a free transfer from Blackburn Rovers in January 2007, and struck once in 25 outings for the Potters, often operating as a midfielder. Patrik Berger netted 35 goals in 196 reds games after his £3.25m capture from Borussia Dortmund following a successful Euro ‘96 with the Czech Republic. However, he was later dogged by persistent knee trouble, and allowed to join Premiership new-boys Portsmouth on a free transfer in June 2003. He later moved to Stoke City on loan from Aston Villa in November 2006 and played seven times in the Potteries, returning to re-join the first-team picture at Villa Park.

 

Frode Kippe joined City on loan in December 1999. He played twenty times in four months at the Britannia Stadium, and returned the following October for a further loan spell, this time making 24 appearances across the rest of the season as the Potters narrowly missed out on promotion to the First Division. He had made just two first-team appearances while at Anfield, both from off the bench in the Worthington Cup, leaving Anfield to return to his native Norway to sign for Lillestrøm on a free transfer in February 2002.

 

Defender Stephen Wright made 21 reds appearances, netting once before moving to Sunderland for £3m in August 2002. He joined Stoke on loan from there five years later, playing seventeen times as they made a belated return to the top flight, moving on to Coventry City in August 2008. Young reserves forward John Miles left for Stoke City on a free transfer in April 2002 having failed to make our first team. He only made one senior appearance for the Potters before moving on to Crewe Alexandra in August 2002.

 

Salif Diao signed from Sedan for £4.7m in August 2002. He made 61 reds appearances, scoring three times, and moved to Stoke City in January 2007 after a successful loan spell there, having already been sent out to both Birmingham City and Portsmouth on a temporary basis. He played 106 times, scoring just once. Kevin Keen joined Stoke from Wolverhampton Wanderers for £300,000 in October 1994. He struck twelve times in 201 outings before moving to Macclesfield Town on a free transfer in September 2000. He joined as one of Kenny Dalglish’s First Team Coaches in July 2011, moving on the following June to join Steve Clarke at West Bromwich Albion.

 

Between the sticks

Bruce Grobbelaar moved to the Victoria Ground on loan in March 1993. He played four games for the Potters, who were on their way to the Second Division title, before briefly returning to our first team at the expense of David James. He played 628 times for the reds since his £250,000 capture from Vancouver Whitecaps in March 1981, helping us to six League titles, one European Cup, three FA Cups, three League Cups and three FA Charity Shields before joining Southampton on a free transfer in August 1994.

 

Tommy Younger arrived from Hibernian in June 1956 for £9,000 and made 127 reds appearances, as well as winning 24 caps for Scotland. He returned north of the border after three years at Anfield to join Falkirk. He came back to England in 1960 to play ten times for Stoke, and also spent time as Assistant Manager at the Victoria Ground after retiring from playing.

 

Scot Ken Campbell signed from Cambuslang Rovers in May 1911 and took over from Sam Hardy in the reds goal, playing 142 times including the 1914 FA Cup Final, before being replaced after the war by the great Elisha Scott. He left for Partick Thistle in April 1920, then joining New Brighton as an amateur and opening a sports shop in nearby Wallasey, before signing for Stoke in March 1923. Mark Prudhoe left Darlington for £210,000 to join the Potters in June 1993. He played 101 times before moving to Bradford City for £70,000 in August 1997. He had joined the reds on loan from Stoke in November 1994, sitting on our bench on eight occasions.

 

Anfield flops

England international midfielder Paul Stewart was one of Graeme Souness’s failed buys, arriving from Tottenham Hotspur for £2.3m in July 1992, making 42 uninspiring appearances before joining Sunderland for free after four seasons at Anfield, netting just three times. He signed for Stoke City on a free transfer from the Mackems in July 1997, going on to notch three goals in 24 outings as they were relegated to the Second Division before retiring the following summer.

 

Mark Walters signed from Rangers for a £1.25m fee in August 1991, going on to score nineteen times in 124 reds appearances. He had been a big success in Scotland, but could not reproduce that at Anfield, and eventually moved to Southampton in January 1996, after a loan spell in the Potteries at the end of the 1993/94 season in which he netted twice in nine games. His most famous of 124 games in a red shirt came when he inspired a UEFA Cup comeback against Auxerre in 1991. He also scored the crucial second goal in our defeat of Manchester United that handed the title to Leeds United earlier the following year.

 

Also up front

Northern Irish forward Sammy Smyth bagged twenty goals in 44 reds games after signing from Stoke City for £12,000 in December 1952, for whom he had struck seventeen times in forty League outings. Left-winger Alan A’Court scored 63 times in 381 reds games, helping us to the Second Division title in 1962, and representing England at the 1958 World Cup in his time at Anfield. He later became Assistant Manager at Stoke under George Eastham in 1969, eventually taking over the reins in January 1978 for a month as caretaker when Eastham departed.

 

Howard Gayle, the first black player to represent Liverpool in modern times, made only five first-team appearances before moving on to Birmingham City in January 1983. He joined Stoke from Sunderland, and struck twice in six League appearances during 1986/87 before joining Blackburn Rovers. Forward Colin Russell only ever tasted half an hour of first-team action for the reds, coming on for Gayle in a home League defeat to Sunderland in May 1981. He bagged two goals in eleven League appearances for Stoke while on loan from Huddersfield Town in 1983/84, whom he had joined from the reds in September 1982.

 

Dick Johnson joined the reds in January 1920, and struck thirty times in 82 outings, helping us to the League title in 1923 before leaving for Stoke in February 1925. Joseph Brough signed from Port Vale in August 1910 and struck three times in eleven senior outings before joining Stoke in January 1912.

 

Between the wars

Hanley-born forward Harold Taylor joined the reds from Stoke City in July 1932. He only made 72 appearances in his four years at Anfield, netting just six times. Left-back Jack Tennant arrived at Anfield from Torquay United in May 1933. He went on to appear 42 times for the reds without notching before joining Bolton Wanderers in January 1936. He had spells with Stoke either side of his time at Anfield. Albert Whitehurst signed from Rochdale in May 1928, netting twice in eight games before signing for Bradford City the following February. He had previously been with Stoke.

 

Other double agents

Centre-half Alex Raisbeck signed from Stoke City for £350 in May 1898. He netted nineteen times in 341 games in eleven years, becoming our first skipper to lift the League title in 1901. He won a further championship medal five years later, as well as a Second Division title. Left half-back Jim Bradley signed for the reds from Stoke in September 1905 after the club had resigned from the League, having played 199 League games for the Potters. He notched eight times in 186 reds games, helping us to claim the League title in his debut season.

 

Left-back Alec Lindsay netted eighteen times in 248 reds games, helping us to the League and UEFA Cup in 1973, and FA Cup and FA Charity Shield the following year, before leaving for Stoke City in September 1977. He bagged three goals in twenty League outings before crossing the Atlantic to sign for Oakland Stompers. Left-half Willie Stevenson missed just nine League games in his first four seasons, making a total of 241 appearances and scoring eighteen times, helping us to two League titles and our first FA Cup triumph in 1965. He moved on to Stoke City in December 1967 for whom he bagged five goals in 95 League games before signing for Tranmere Rovers in 1973.

 

Full-back Tom Robertson had two spells with Stoke, before moving to Anfield from the Victoria Ground in April 1900. He helped the reds to our first League title in his first campaign, failing to score in 47 games before moving into amateur football with Southampton in May 1902. Keeper Carl Muggleton signed on loan from Leicester City in 1990 but never even made the first-team bench. He also spent time on loan with the Potters, playing six times and then returning permanently in the summer of 1994 for a fee of £150,000. He played 149 games in this second spell, being released in the summer of 2001, moving on to Cheltenham Town. Bob Glassey signed from Horden Colliery Welfare in March 1934 and netted four goals in nine outings before moving to Stoke City in November 1936, where he struggled to hold down a regular place.

[Conrad]

--------------------Mignolet

 

Clyne-------Lovren------Sakho-------Moreno

 

-----------Henderson----------Can

 

Ibe-----------------Teixeira--------------Smith

 

---------------------Sturridge

Is this a joke?

Bogdan

Clyne-Sakho-Lovren-Smith

Henderson-Allen

Ibe-Can-Milner

------Stu---------

Why would you pick Bogdan?

[Will]

Down Memory Lane

 

YNWA takes a look back at our five previous cup visits to Stoke as we prepare for our Capital One Cup Semi-final first leg at Stoke City on Tuesday. We have so won three of these fixtures, drawing the other two.

 

A record heading towards the first leg of the treble

We secured our biggest ever away win, and Stoke City’s record home defeat, as we triumphed 8-0 in the Fourth Round of the Worthington Cup in November 2000. 27,109 attended the game – a then record at their new Britannia Stadium. They struggled to keep up, with the scoreboard at one time flashing up 9-0! It was also a game of several firsts, as Richie Partridge and Stephen Wright both made their first-team debuts, with Markus Babbel bagging his first reds goal. Robbie Fowler grabbed a hat-trick, including a penalty, with our other goals coming from Christian Ziege, Vladimír Šmicer, Sami Hyypiä and Danny Murphy.

 

Most recently

We won our Carling Cup Fourth Round tie 2-1 in October 2011. Kenwyne Jones struck just before half-time, with Luis Suárez bagging a brace after the break. We went on to claim the trophy for a record eighth time at Wembley in February 2012.

 

Also in the League Cup

We won the second leg of our Rumbelows Cup Second Round tie 3-2 at the Victoria Ground in October 1991 to progress 5-4 on aggregate, with Steve McManaman, Dean Saunders and Mark Walters netting. However, we lost at Manchester United at the next stage.

 

Heading to Wembley

Our FA Cup Third Round trip ended goalless in January 1988, with Peter Beardsley netting the only goal of the Anfield replay from just outside the area three days later. We made it as far as the Final that season, losing out to Wimbledon.

 

First meeting

Our first cup meeting took place at the Victoria Ground in the FA Cup First Round in January 1900, with the home side not yet having their City suffix. The game ended goalless with winger Jack Cox having a goal disallowed. Forward John ‘Sailor’ Hunter bagged the only goal of the Anfield replay. However, we went out against West Bromwich Albion at the next hurdle.

[RafaShanks]

Anfield HQ ‏@AnfieldHQ 10h10 hours ago

Daniel Sturridge, James Milner and Jordan Henderson all have outside chances of being involved against Stoke. #lfc (Echo)

I'd start all 3 for this. So my midfield would be as keeper and defence pick themselves:

Milner---Can---Hendo---Ibe

-----------Coutinho-----------

-----------Sturridge-----------

[McBain]

Anfield HQ ‏@AnfieldHQ 10h10 hours ago

Daniel Sturridge, James Milner and Jordan Henderson all have outside chances of being involved against Stoke. #lfc (Echo)

I'd start all 3 for this. So my midfield would be as keeper and defence pick themselves:

 

Milner---Can---Hendo---Ibe

-----------Coutinho-----------

-----------Sturridge-----------

With a full week till arsenal I think certain risks can be taken. Might as well go strong from the off v these

[Earl Hafler]

Exeter on Friday

[Red Yoda]

Is this a joke?

 

After the way we played against Westham, I would happily bench some of the others and give Teixeira and Smith the start, Sturridge would at least give us pace and movement up top, it couldnt be any worse than we were against Westham and it would send a simple message to a few wannabe's.

 

Can't imagine that we will actually line up like that to be fair but I was still cross as hell when I posted it.

[Conrad]

After the way we played against Westham, I would happily bench some of the others and give Teixeira and Smith the start, Sturridge would at least give us pace and movement up top, it couldnt be any worse than we were against Westham and it would send a simple message to a few wannabe's.

 

Can't imagine that we will actually line up like that to be fair but I was still cross as hell when I posted it.

this is a really important game, possibly our best chance of silverware this season. Play the best available XI

[smithdown]

this is a really important game, possibly our best chance of silverware this season. Play the best available XI

Could be the same side with a "now do what you're f*ckin told" rap

[Conrad]

Could be the same side with a "now do what you're f*ckin told" rap

Yeah, quite possibly. Unless Sturridge or Henderson are ready to start, which sounds unlikely

[McBain]

Exeter on Friday

No s***. Fringe players obviously