Text here to move the logos across. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Hello and welcome to the official match thread for Wednesday’s Capital One Cup third round encounter between West Bromwich Albion & Liverpool. The game is scheduled to be played at the Hawthorns on Wednesday 26th of September 2012 with a kick-off time of 8PM. Preview. The League Cup is this week’s football action and West Bromwich Albion take on Liverpool tomorrow’s in the third round. Liverpool are the defending champions after beating Cardiff City on penalties in the final in February of last season and will be looking to defend their title! West Brom stand in their way in the third round of the Capital One Cup. The Baggies, managed by ex-Liverpool coach Steve Clarke, have enjoyed an excellent start to this season with the West Midlands side currently sitting 4th in the Premier League with an outstanding home record. 3 games. 3 wins. 6 goals scored. 0 goals conceded. The perfect start for West Brom at home and with this tie being at The Hawthorns, they will be looking to extend that impressive home record. However, as with most Premier League sides in this competition, there will be changes made from the Premier League side. Steve Clarke has said that he is looking to take the domestic cup competitions seriously so you may not see as many changes as some of the other Premier League sides made tonight. Man City’s 11 changes as an example of the changes Premier League sides make... Some of West Brom’s fringe players could therefore see action and try to stake a claim for a place in the Premier League side. I would suspect that the main changes will be in the forward positions. At the moment, Shane Long (3 goals this season) Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku (2 goals this season) & Peter Odemwingie (1 goal this season) are West Brom’s three main strikers. The back-up for those two comes in the shape of Marc-Antoine Fortune & Markus Rosenberg. With Odemwingie suspended after his sending-off against Fulham and Long/Lukaku likely to be rested or on the bench, Fortune & Rosenberg could see some minutes and get a chance to impress Clarke. If Clarke decides to go with one of Fortune & Rosenberg from the start, he could place one of Long or Lukaku or maybe both on the bench and that would give him some options if West Brom’s gameplan doesn’t work. In midfield, James Morrison is rated as doubtful after picking up a hamstring injury in their Premier League win over Reading. With Morrison being such an integral part of West Brom’s midfield on the right-hand side, it would seem unlikely that he is risked. There are even more injury concerns for the Baggies across the pitch with West Brom joint assistant manager Keith Downing confirming that they have up to NINE players who are out or rated doubtful for this Capital One Cup encounter. They include Steven Reid & Goran Popov who have hamstring & groin injuries respectively. As i’m sure you can tell, this leaves West Brom seriously short on numbers! This means that players Clarke may have wanted to rest will have to play because of the shortage of replacements in the squad. This is why the likes of Claudio Yacob will probably continue in central-midfield. The Argentinean midfielder has excelled in the middle for West Brom and looks to be an astute signing from Steve Clarke in the summer. The away side, Liverpool, will be expected to make changes to their side. The current holders have a busy fixture schedule to contend with and some of the fringe/younger players seem likely to be given a chance. Injuries & suspensions have left Liverpool without some important players for this game and upcoming games. Lucas Leiva, Daniel Agger, Martin Kelly, Fabio Borini & Joe Cole are all on the injury list and seem very unlikely to have any involvment in this game. This leaves certain players who haven’t had too many first-team opportunities a chance to impress. In the Europa League last Thursday, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers took a very young squad and gave a mix of younger and more experienced players a chance to force their way into the first-team reckoning. I think many people are expecting Rodgers to take the same kind of view for the earlier stages of the Capital One Cup. Players such as Andre Wisdom, Sebastian Coates, Jesús Fernández Sáez (More commonly known as Suso) & Oussama Assaidi will all be expected to be involved either from the start or by coming off the bench. In defence, both injuries and players being rested means that the defence that is put out tonight will probably be different to what many people see as Liverpool’s first-choice defence. At right-back, an ACL knee injury sustained by Martin Kelly means a re-shuffle is going to happen. Jon Flanagan has also been ruled out with an ankle injury whilst Glen Johnson seems likely to be rested. This means that Andre Wisdom would seem likely to continue at right-back after impressing against Young Boys in the Europa League in that position. In central defence, Jamie Carragher will probably get a starting place after Daniel Agger picked up an injury against Manchester United on the Sunday just gone. Sebastian Coates got some significant game time in last season’s triumph for Liverpool in this competition and he could again feature to help him get that all important match experience under his belt. At left-back, Jack Robinson could get another chance to impress after getting some game time in this season's Europa League. In midfield, I would expect both Nuri Sahin & Jordan Henderson to start in the middle. With Jonjo Shelvey suspended and Steven Gerrard likely to be rested in preparation for the Premier League game, that leaves one slot available. After impressing against both Young Boys & Manchester United, Suso could get one of those slots in the middle. His position could be slightly more forward with Henderson & Sahin sitting back a little bit more. The forward positions now become difficult. With Fabio Borini injured and unlikely to be risked if he was to be near full fitness, it leaves Liverpool painfully short on options. On one wing, Stewart Downing will probably play and be given another chance to force his way into the first-team reckoning. On the other side, Oussama Assaidi is likely to get his second start in a Liverpool shirt and those two could interchange at different points in the game. In the central position, things become even shorter on numbers. There is Luis Suarez as the senior striker and after that, not too much in terms of experience. If Suarez doesn’t play, one of Adam Morgan or Samed Yesil could play. Morgan has made two appearances so far for Liverpool (Both in the Europa League) and Yesil has yet to play for Liverpool in the first-team. According to the Liverpool Echo, Jerome Sinclair is going to travel to The Hawthorns and could get a place on the bench. The 16 year-old has impressed in the various age groups since joining from... West Brom! So, another intriguing game in prospect! With West Brom already having the upper hand in the fixture (A 3-0 victory in the first game of the Premier League season) and Steve Clarke looking to once again mastermind a victory over his old employers, it sets everything up for a good game! Injury News. West Bromwich Albion. Goran Popov: Groin Strain. James Morrison: Hamstring Injury. Jerome Thomas: Knee Injury. Steven Reid: Hamstring Injury. Liverpool. Fabio Borini: Ankle/Foot Injury. Martin Kelly: ACL Knee Injury. Daniel Agger: MCL Knee Ligament Injury. Joe Cole: Hamstring Injury. Lucas Leiva: Hip/Thigh Injury. Jon Flanagan: Ankle Injury. Jose Enrique: Knee Injury. Jonjo Shelvey is suspended for tonight's game after picking up a red card against Manchester United in Liverpool's last fixture. West Bromwich Albion 1 - 2 Liverpool Goalscorers: West Bromwich Albion... Gabriel Tamas: 2nd minute. Liverpool... Nuri Sahin: 16th minute. Liverpool... Nuri Sahin: 81st minute. West Bromwich Albion: Foster - Jones Olsson Tamas Dawson - Dorrans Thorne Mulumba El Ghanassy - Rosenborg Long SUBS: Daniels McAuley Ridgewell Yacob Fortune Lukaku Berahino - West Bromwich Albion Substitution: Liam Ridgewell comes off to be replaced by Craig Dawson: 21st minute. West Bromwich Albion Substitution: Romelu Lukaku comes off to be replaced by Shane Long: 70th minute. West Bromwich Albion Substitution: Marc-Antoine Fortune comes off to be replaced by Yassine El Ghanassy: 87th minute. - Liverpool: Jones - Wisdom Carragher Coates Robinson - Henderson Sahin Downing - Assaidi Sinclair Suso SUBS: Gulacsi Sama Wilson Coady Pacheco Sterling Yesil - Liverpool Substitution: Daniel Pacheco comes off to be replaced by Suso: 81st minute. Liverpool Substitution: Samed Yesil comes off to be replaced by Jerome Sinclair: 81st minute. - YNWA.
Great thread, as usual, Chris I see a tight game but with plenty of goals. Could go either way, but I'm hoping for a win this time. WBA look good at home and so it's a tough game for our youngsters, but most will relish the opportunity. I hope Yesil and Assaidi and Suso all start. Here's to a cracking cup-tie...
Rumour is both Sahin and Henderson start tomorrow, but Suso doesnt.Rumour is Suso is going to START in the Shelvey position v Norwich So therefore v Baggies Rumoured 11 is .Jones Wisdom Carra Wilson Robinson Sahin Henderson Assaidi Downing Pacheco Yesil Rumoured 11 for Canaries is . Reina Johnson Coates Skrtel Enrique Gerrard Allen Suso Sterling Suarez Borini
Good thread as per usual Chris. To be honest, although I'd love us to go win it, I really wouldn't mind if we put a youth team out in this years competition, much like Arsenal do. If we go out so be it, but with the amount onf injuries to key players and already having a small squad, if we lose a couple more senior players we could be really screwed. Think the below team would be reasonable and would give young players a chance in natural positions along with giving Henderson & Sahin game time (only senior players that need it and have a decent chance of breaking into first team). Jones/Gulacsi Flanagan Carragher Wisdom Robinson Henderson Sahin Suso Morgan Yesil Pacheco
Yeah, it usually is. Would be fairly happy with those teams, TBH. Is Borini going to be fit for the Norwich match?
----------------Jones-------------- -Wisdom-Carragher-Wilson-Robinson- --------Henderson---Sahin---------- ---Downing----Pacheco----Assaidi--- -----------------Yesil---------------
If we don't win I'll castrate myself. Can't stand the shame of losing twice to WBA in a little over a month!
