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      MATCH PREVIEW

WEST BROMWICH ALBION v LIVERPOOL
Capital One Cup 3rd Round
Wednesday 26th September 2012, 8pm
The Hawthorns

TEAM NEWS

Albion

Steve Clarke will be without Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie who serves the second game of his three match suspension following his sending-off at Fulham earlier this month. Also missing will be Jerome Thomas who has yet to recover from his knee injury. The Baggies' boss also has doubts over James Morrison (hamstring), Goran Popov (groin) and Steven Reid (hamstring).

On-loan striker Romelu Lukaku is available for selection.

Squad from: Foster, Reid, Ridgewell, Olsson, McAuley, Yacob, Mulumbu, Morrison, Gera, Long, Myhill, El Ghanassy, Rosenberg, Dorrans, Tamas, Jara, Lukaku, Jones, Allan, Thorne, Brunt, Fortuné, Dawson, Berahino, Hurst.

Liverpool

Liverpool boss Brendan Rogers is expected to play a youthful side with a number of first team regulars missing. Daniel Agger, Martin Kelly, Lucas Leiva and Fabio Borini are all injured whilst Jonjo Shelvey is suspended following his red card against Manchester United at the weekend.

Squad from: Reina, Jones, Wisdom, Johnson, Enrique, Flanagan, Skrtel, Carragher, Coates, Wilson, Sama, Downing, Gulacsi, Henderson, Sahin, Sterling, Allen, Suso, Gerrard, Morgan, Assaidi, Yesil, Pacheco, Suarez.

QUOTES

Albion assistant head coach Keith Downing:

"We are conscious of the Premier League being a very important competition but equally there is a seriousness about going as far as we can in this competition.

"The decision hasn't been made yet. There is a competition for places here. We feel it is the strongest squad, certainly in my time here. The competition for spots has risen in terms of standard and, whoever we put out tomorrow, we feel it will be a strong team to compete against the cup holders.

"There is a really good feeling about the place at the moment and it will be disrespectful to the competition if we take it lightly tomorrow. It is a competition you can win. Birmingham showed that a couple of seasons ago. There is a seriousness about it and the manager is very keen to show that."

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MATCH ODDS

Result

Albion Win: 9/5, Liverpool Win: 7/5, Draw: 12/5.

First Goalscorer

Suarez 5/1, Long 7/1, Lukaku 7/1, Fortuné 8/1, Rosenberg 8/1, Gerrard 8/1, Morgan 8/1, Brunt 10/1, Dorrans 10/1, Morrison 10/1, Assaidi 10/1, Sterling 10/1, El Ghanassy 12/1, Gera 12/1, Downing 12/1, Henderson 20/1, Sahin 20/1.

REFEREE

Michael Oliver (Northumberland) - Refereed three Albion games last season - The 3-0 defeat at Arsenal in November, the 2-1 defeat at home to Norwich City in the FA Cup in January, and the 1-1 draw at Wigan Athletic in March.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets for the Birmingham Road End, East Stand and West Stand are currently on general sale to home fans only. Liverpool have been allocated the entire Smethwick End.

WEATHER FORECAST

30% chance of showers, 11°C.

FIXTURE HISTORY

Wednesday night’s 3rd round tie at The Hawthorns will be the sixth meeting between Albion and Liverpool in League Cup action.  At the moment, the men from Merseyside have the slightly better record having won two, drawn two and lost just the once.

The first two meetings between the two sides took place in the third round during the 1972/73 season. The first game, at The Hawthorns on October 3, ended in a 1-1 draw. Scottish star Asa Hartford the goalscorer for Albion whilst Steve Heighway notched for the Reds. The replay at Anfield a week later saw the home side win a tight game 2-1 after extra time, Emlyn Hughes and Kevin Keegan scoring the goals that saw Bill Shankly’s men progress to the next round. Ally Robertson scored Albion’s solitary goal.

It would be just four years before the two clubs met in the competition again, this time in the second round. The first game, played at Anfield on August 31, 1976, ended in a 1-1 draw. Baggies’ player-manager Johnny Giles scoring the visitors’ goal and Ian Callaghan the hosts’. This time the replay, six days later, would see a reversal of fortunes from 1972 with Albion going on to win the replay 1-0 thanks to a goal from Republic of Ireland international Mick Martin.

The last League Cup meeting between the two sides came on October 15, 1997, in a third round tie at The Hawthorns. Albion, then under the leadership of Ray Harford, struggled to match the class and quality of the Reds and goals from Patrik Berger and Robbie Fowler were enough to see the Baggies’ crash out of the competition with a 2-0 defeat.

After losing 13 consecutive league and cup games against Liverpool, Albion have now won three of the last four meetings.


LAST LEAGUE CUP MEETING

Albion 0-2 Liverpool
Coca-Cola Cup 3rd Round
Wednesday 15th October 1997, 7:45pm

Albion: Miller, Holmes, Smith, Sneekes, Burgess, Raven (Dobson 43), Flynn (Butler 82), Hamilton, Taylor (Hughes 60), Peschisolido, Kilbane.

Booked: Burgess

Liverpool: James, Carragher (Leonhardsen 45), Kvarme, Ruddock, Bjornebye, McAteer, McManaman, Berger (Harkness 79), Thomas, Fowler, Riedle. Sub not used: Owen.

Goalscorers: Berger 52, Fowler 89.

Attendance: 21,986

Referee: Alan Wilkie (Chester-le-Street)


Liverpool showed a commitment to the Coca-Cola Cup that put Manchester United to shame, as they overwhelmed West Bromwich Albion to an extent that was not mirrored by the final scoreline at The Hawthorns. While Alex Ferguson rested many of his big-name stars at Ipswich 24 hours earlier, Roy Evans was as good as his word in fielding his strongest possible side.

Goals from Czech international Patrik Berger and Robbie Fowler settled the third-round tie, but Evans' men backed up his claim that Liverpool "try to win every competition we enter" message with a totally committed and classy display. They had Albion chasing shadows for long periods with their one-touch football slicing through the home defence time and time again. It was a minor miracle that the Albion defence was pierced only twice thanks to some inept finishing and several fine stops by goalkeeper Alan Miller. Albion deserve credit for sticking to their task, but if ever the gulf between the Premiership and the first division was highlighted then it was on this occasion. Only in the final quarter did Albion get a sniff of the Liverpool goal, and all their effort and commitment counted for nothing as The Reds booked their place in the last 16.

Liverpool dominated the first half to such an extent that had it been a boxing match then the referee might have stopped the contest to spare Albion further punishment. Evans fielded his strongest available side, and his team showed from the first whistle that they were in the mood for the challenge. Acting captain Steve McManaman and Berger were a constant threat, as Liverpool sliced their way through the Albion back four almost at will with their one-touch football. Fowler should have given them a second-minute lead, after Miller failed to cling on to a low drive from Berger. But he was far too lethargic in trying to convert the rebound, and the Albion goalkeeper was able to parry his weak effort. Fowler then headed a Berger centre against the bar, before Albion threatened briefly with Paul Peschisolido turning past Bjorn Kvarme only for Liverpool goalkeeper David James to be equal to his low drive. But Albion struggled to halt the wave of attacks and Karlhienz Riedle should have done better when he headed a Bjornebye cross over the top from close range. Riedle again went close when he deflected a mis-hit shot from Jamie Carragher on to a post, and Miller produced a fine save to tip a shot on the turn from fit-again Neil Ruddock around the post.

The start of the second period was in the same vein, and there was an inevitability about proceedings when Liverpool finally broke the deadlock after 51 minutes. Fowler got clear on the left flank and pulled his low centre back into the path of Berger, who had time to steady himself before drilling a 15-yard drive past Miller. Albion, who brought on former Kidderminster striker Lee Hughes in place of Bob Taylor after 59 minutes, at last gave their supporters something to cheer about with a spell of pressure. First Richard Sneekes burst forward and was only a yard wide with a fierce long-range effort and then James tipped over a Kevin Kilbane shot from a narrow angle. James then held on to a low Sneekes shot - but in the 89th minute Fowler settled the issue with a powerful drive from 15 yards which flew past a shell-shocked Miller.

Sporting Life

CURRENT CONNECTIONS

Current Baggies' boss Steve Clarke spent 18 months at Anfield as first team coach under Kenny Dalglish. Clarke left his role in the Summer following the appointment of Brendan Rogers and two days later was named as Albion's new head coach.

Current Albion joint assistant head coach Kevin Keen worked as a coach at Liverpool under Dalglish and alongside Clarke. He moved to The Hawthorns in July after leaving Anfield.

Liverpool youngster Jerome Sinclair started his playing career in Albion's academy before leaving to join the Reds in 2011.

PAST CONNECTIONS

Amongst the players to have turned out at various levels for both clubs are: Freddie Buck, David Burrows, Scott Carson, John Chadburn, Harry Chambers, John Durnin, Bruce Grobbelaar, Charlie Hewitt, Tony Kelly, Chris Kirkland, Steve Nicol and David Speedie

Current England boss Roy Hodgson managed both clubs whilst ex-Albion boss Jimmy Hagan started his playing career as a Junior at Anfield.

ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS LIVERPOOL

 VENUE P W D  L F A
 Home 71 25 18 28 94 91
 Away 66 11 20 35 54 111
 Neutral 1 1 0 0 2 1
 Total 138 37 38 63 150 203

LAST TEN MATCHES AGAINST LIVERPOOL

 DATE  COMPETITION H/A F-A  GOALSCORERS  GATE
 Sat 18 Aug 2012  Premier League H 3-0  Gera, Odemwingie (pen), Lukaku  26,039 
 Sun 22 Apr 2012  Premier League A 1-0  Odemwingie  43,660
 Sat 29 Oct 2011  Premier League H 0-2  Adam (pen), Carroll  25,522
 Sat 02 Apr 2011  Premier League H 2-1  Brunt 2 (2pens) - Skrtel  26,196
 Sun 29 Aug 2010  Premier League A 0-1  Torres  41,194
 Sun 17 May 2009  Premier League H 0-2  Gerrard, Kuyt  26,138
 Sat 08 Nov 2008  Premier League A 0-3  Keane 2, Arbeloa  43,451
 Sat 01 Apr 2006  Premier League H 0-2  Fowler, Cisse  27,576
 Sat 31 Dec 2005  Premier League A 0-1  Crouch  44,192
 Sun 26 Dec 2004  Premier League H 0-5  Riise 2, Pongolle, Gerrard, Garcia  27,533

 

 
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