Both Andoni Iraola and Xabi Alonso will be eyeing up Carabao Cup success as they each plot the other’s downfall in Wednesday night’s fourth round tie.
The managers of Liverpool and Chelsea – both in their first campaigns at their respective clubs – go back a long way, growing up alongside one another and playing for the same youth team in the San Sebastian area of Spain.
The meeting at Anfield is the pick of the ties from this week’s glut of fixtures as it brings together two teams with a combined 15 League Cups between them. Liverpool enter this game in fine fettle and off the back of four straight wins, the most recent of which was a routine 2-0 success over Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday.
“Every competition is an opportunity, especially when you are the coach of Liverpool,” Iraola reflected ahead of the match.
“You have to take it like this. I would love to win tomorrow and have the chance to go further in the competition, but I know we will have to play well and beat a very good team.”
Liverpool look as though they are hitting form right now, with goals being shared about their team in good measure but Iraola knows he’ll have to once again rely on his squad depth to cope with fighting on so many fronts.
As such, he admits there “will definitely be changes” as he looks to shuffle his pack. He added: “We need to see where the legs are and make some changes game-to-game because it’s almost mandatory. We have a lot of options and we need to rotate.”
Chelsea will be keen to react positively on Merseyside after their painful derby defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend. Alonso’s men suffered a shock 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge on a day to forget as goalkeeper Mike Penders’ error led to a Spurs goal and Cole Palmer was sent off.
As such, Palmer is suspended for the trip to Anfield whilst Alonso, speaking to the media pre-match, also confirmed that top scorer Joao Pedro will once again miss out owing to a thigh injury.
Alonso said of the Brazilian: “We will miss him but we have to be ready to deal with that and win games and be competitive with the players we have available. This is the situation. We have to be looking for solutions not for excuses. This is why you build a squad. For sure, some players are important but this can happen.”
