Liverpool vs Swansea: Capital One Cup match preview

A look ahead to Tuesday’s League Cup clash at Anfield

Mario Balotelli pictured in the 0-0 draw with Hull (GETTY IMAGES)

Liverpool and Swansea have experienced very similar fortunes in the early months of the Premier League season, with the two sides tied on fourteen points after their first nine games.

Tonight’s encounter gives both teams the opportunity to add some much needed consistency to their performances and progress to the next round of the Capital One Cup.

Brendan Rodgers’ team go into the mid-week fixture on the back of some intense scrutiny after their recent string of unconvincing performances. The Liverpool manager has confirmed he will be making a number of changes to the team that drew with Hull at the weekend, with Mario Balotelli likely to be amongst those to miss out.

The Reds only scraped into the fourth round of the competition following a record breaking 14-13 penalty shoot-out win over Championship side Middlesbrough while Swansea brushed aside Everton, coming out 3-0 winners on the night.

Gary Monk’s side picked up their first win since August on Saturday against a lacklustre Leicester City. The Swans will want to deliver an equally dominant performance this evening, in a competition they won two years ago.

KICK-OFF: Tuesday, 8pm

PAST THREE MEETINGS:

Liverpool 4 (Sturridge 2, Henderson 2) Swansea 3 (Shelvey, Skrtel (og), Bony), Premier League, February 2014

Swansea 2 (Shelvey, Michu) Liverpool 2 (Sturridge, Moses), Premier League, September 2013

Liverpool 5 (Gerrard, Coutinho, Enrique, Suarez, Sturridge) Swansea 0, Premier League, February 2013

Wilfried Bony scored against Leciester last time out

STATS:

The last time Swansea beat Liverpool in this competition they went on to win it in the 2012/13 season.

30 penalties were taken in Liverpool’s previous Capital One Cup fixture against Middlesborough.

Raheem Sterling was the only player to miss a penalty for Liverpool in that fixture.

Until Saturday’s win against Leicester, Swansea’s only win since August came in their 3-0 Capital One Cup 3 Round game against Everton.

ODDS:

Find odds using Betfair.com – always write them as decimals.

Liverpool to win: 1.76

Swansea to win: 5.4

Draw: 4.3

CLASSIC MOMENT/MATCH:

The last time Liverpool and Swansea met in the Capital One Cup was 31 October 2013. The Swans won 3-1 at Anfield with Chico Flores, Nathan Dyer and Jonathan De Guzman scoring for the away side. Luis Suarez registered the only goal for Liverpool in a game that featured Jamie Carragher and Stewart Downing for the Reds.

TV: Highlights on The League Cup Show, Wednesday 29 October at 23:05, BBC One