Flanagan And Smith To Start: Likely Liverpool XI To Face Stoke City In The League Cup Semi-final

After managing to win their thrilling encounter with Norwich on Saturday, Liverpool will now face Stoke in the second leg of the Capital One Cup semifinals on Tuesday. Liverpool have a one goal advantage over the Potters from their first leg match at the Britannia Stadium courtesy of a Jordon Ibe goal.

When Liverpool face Stoke on Tuesday even a 1-1 draw will be enough for Liverpool to go to Wembley. Is Liverpool’s key players fit enough for another match? Is Klopp going to make any changes to the team that won against Norwich? Here is Liverpool’s predicted line-up to face Stoke:

Goalkeeper – Simon Mignolet

The Belgian keeper is having a really bad time at the moment. Nothing is going his way and he is not doing anything to help him either. But Klopp will probably stick to Mignolet instead of Bogdan who has also been worse for the Reds.

Defenders – Jon Flanagan, Kolo Toure, Mamadou Sakho, Brad Smith

Liverpool’s woeful defending conceded four goals against a poor Norwich side on Saturday and it was Liverpool’s poor set piece defending that cost them the most. Liverpool will have to improve their set piece defending against Stoke, because the Potters are a very big threat from set pieces.

Klopp confirmed in his Pre-Stoke press conference that Liverpool right back, Nathaniel Clyne, sustained a slight knee injury against Norwich and he is a doubt for the cup tie. The Scouse Cafu, Jon Flanagan, returned to full fitness for Liverpool recently and he will probably get his first start for Liverpool since his return on Tuesday.

Klopp also said in his press conference that if nothing happens Kolo Toure and Mamadou Sakho will continue at the heart of Liverpool’s back four. Dejan Lovren has returned from injury but it is unlikely that he will start because he hasn’t played for the last three weeks. We can expect him to be on the bench.

Alberto Moreno had a bad match against Norwich as his poor decision to tackle Steven Naismith twice in the penalty box led them to score from the resulting penalty. Brad Smith, on the other hand is in a good form now and we can expect him to start ahead of Moreno against the Potters.