Jamie Carragher: Winning the Capital One Cup more important for Liverpool than beating Manchester United

Reds legend says winning the League Cup is more important than defeating old foes United

Jamie Carragher believes his former club should not panic-buy this January (Getty Images)

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has argued tomorrow’s Premier League meeting with Manchester United isn’t as big as the Capital One Cup semi-final with Stoke City.

The Reds, five points adrift of the top four, are eying a return to the Champions League and face the Potters in the second leg on 26 January.

But Carragher said his former employers should place added importance on the later.

Writing in his Daily Mail column, he said: “I don't think Liverpool are good enough to make the Champions League this year and a loss to United could potentially mean they come out of the weekend eight points behind fourth place with five or six clubs ahead of them.

“They would virtually have no chance of qualifying from that position.

“It is 100 days since Klopp was appointed and before he reaches 150, there is an outstanding chance he could become just their second manager in the last nine years to win a piece of silverware and that would be huge; two of the last three appointments, remember, left without achieving that.

“This a chance to get a monkey off his back. How many times is that kind of opportunity going to come around for him?

“The demands for a Liverpool manager used to revolve around league titles and European Cups but it would be miraculous if Klopp moves the club back to those levels.”