Stoke City Vs. Liverpool Preview

Liverpool face Stoke in the first leg of the Capital One cup semi-final. Both teams arrive at the Britannia on the back of disappointing defeats to West Brom and West Ham respectively.

Liverpool will be looking to bounce back after a poor performance. Jurgen Klopp has managed to bring a feel good atmosphere to Anfield but despite this results have been inconsistent. Liverpool have convincingly defeated Chelsea and Manchester City under Klopp but have all had defeats to Newcastle and Crystal Palace. This makes the match a hard one to predict, on their day Liverpool can be unstoppable but at other times can be very weak.

Stoke have impressed this season, gone is their reputation of route one boring football. Their recruitment had been fantastic with the signings of Shaqiri,Bojan and Affelay. These players provide attacking options wide or through the middle and have been an important factor in their success. Arnautovic is also having a good season, it's clear Stoke's strength comes from their attack and given the good form Liverpool face a stiff challenged.

Player To Watch
Phillipe Countinho had a very good start to the season scoring important goals but has been fairly quiet in recent weeks. He usually comes inside on his right foot to shoot, this predictability has meant opposition has been able to limit his influence. He still creates chances for his team and it's easy to see that he is best used providing opportunities for others.

Score Prediction
I predict a 2-1 to Liverpool. This game is likely to be close with both teams showing that they step to the big occasion in this competition and it'll be interesting to see who will come out on top