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."
www.skysports.com
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 |
|