Liverpool's defence of the League Cup continues tonight as they welcome Swansea City to Anfield in Round Four of the competition...
The Capital One Cup fixture this evening is the fourth match in twelve days for the Reds and despite being the holders of the trophy, a host of changes are likely.
Intriguingly the match also represents the first meeting between Kop boss Brendan Rodgers and the side he left during the summer. A decision he described at the time as 'extremely, extremely difficult'.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the 39-year-old unsurprisingly paid Swansea plenty of respect but remained focused on progressing to the next round despite the opportunity to catch up with some familiar faces.
"I think it's one where you have two hats on," explained Rodgers.
"The professional hat, first and foremost, says we want to get through to the quarter-finals. We have got an opportunity, playing at Anfield, which is a wonderful stadium, and a chance to progress in the competition. Nothing will get in the way of that - no sentiment gets in the way of wanting to progress to the next round.
"But it's also good to see people. I had some fantastic professional and personal experiences at Swansea City, and the support I got there was unheralded in terms of the city and the people and south Wales in general. Of course it's a result I always look out for because they're good people and I always want them to do well.
"But obviously we want to win the game. It's the professional challenge, it's our job to focus and concentrate."
Team wise, it is likely some of the big names such as Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez will be rested or at the very least kept on the bench in case they are required late on. The likes of Jamie Carragher, Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing, Oussama Assaidi and Joe Cole will be expecting to start after finding regular first team opportunities hard to come by so far this season.
Despite returning to the bench for Sunday's Merseyside derby draw against Everton, regular goalkeeper Pepe Reina will not be risked so Brad Jones will remain between the sticks for a fourth game in a row.
Out of the host of youngsters who featured in the previous round's triumph over West Bromwich Albion, young German forward Samed Yesil is the most likely to be utilised again. The club's youngest ever player, Jerome Sinclair, has been heavily involved with England U17s of late and is therefore not expected to be involved.
Commenting on the likelihood for change, Rodgers replied: "I said it on the first day I arrived, I'm going to rely on the whole squad. For us to compete in as many competitions as we can, we need everyone.
"They have an outstanding group of players who are very honest and work tirelessly, so it will be a difficult game for us. For us, it will be pretty much more of the same - we'll change the team around."
Vital Prediction
Swansea have had an up-and-down season so far with some very erratic performances but on their day they are a dangerous side who are a joy to watch. The Swans have a lot of pace down the flanks, which could cause us problems, but given home advantage and the desire to retain the trophy we should prevail. As is often the case with cup matches in the earlier rounds, a lot could depend on team selection with both sides likely to make alterations to their usual Premier League selections. I cannot see us playing as youthful team as in the previous round but there are a number of established squad players with a point to prove. Vital Liverpool predicts a 2-1 home win.
Possible Starting X1
(4-3-3) Jones, Wisdom, Carragher, Coates, Enrique, Henderson, Shelvey, Sahin, Assaidi, Suso, Downing.
Did You Know?
Liverpool are the most successful team in League Cup history having lifted the trophy eight-times as well as being runners-up on three occasions. The Reds were victorious in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1995, 2001, 2003 and 2012.
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