Liverpool vs Leicester City
19:45, Wednesday 22nd December
Anfield, Liverpool
English Football League Cup
Referee: Andrew Madley
This week’s League Cup quarter final meeting between Liverpool and Leicester City takes place amidst an increase wave of variant-driven Covid-19 cases and much discussion about whether football and ‘normal life’ in general will be paused in an attempt to halt the rise in cases. Both clubs have been affected by Covid-19 recently, with Leicester having a pair of Premier League matches against Tottenham Hostpur & Everton postponed during recent weeks and Liverpool playing on against Newcastle United & Spurs despite a number of players testing positive.
Hosts Liverpool have been in excellent form of late, with only a frustrating visit to Spurs denying them seven consecutive victories across all competitions – they find themselves in the quarter finals following 3-0 & 2-0 wins over Norwich City & Preston North End, respectively. Leicester’s form under Brendan Rodgers has been somewhat mixed all season, and they sit 9th in the Premier League table (albeit with games in hand) but bumped down to the Europa Conference League following elimination from the Europa League itself – they won 2-0 away to Millwall and beat visitors Brighton & Hove Albion on penalties to secure their place in this season’s quarters. Both sides were eliminated by Arsenal in consecutive rounds last year (Liverpool in the third; Leicester in the fourth), with the Gunners losing to eventual winners Man City in the subsequent quarter final.
Hosts Liverpool have a strong historical record in the League Cup – they won four consecutive finals under Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan between 1981 & ’84, and that tally has been doubled since. Their historical ‘dominance’ of the competition has only been reigned in by Manchester City, who have flexed the depth of their heavily-bankrolled squad to win the trophy in six of the last eight campaigns. Liverpool’s last won this cup in 2012, under Kenny Dalglish, with Steven Gerrard’s cousin Anthony missing a decisive penalty following a 2-2 draw after extra time. The Reds reached the final again in 2015-16 – on that occasion losing on penalties to Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City.
Visitors Leicester have won the competition three times – in 1964 (also reaching the final the following year) and then twice under Martin O’Neill in 1997 (following a replay) & 2000 (also reaching the final in 1999). Their cup-victory in 2000 was their first major title until the 2015-16 Premier League, and saw them beat John Aldridge’s Tranmere Rovers at Wembley – courtesy of a Matt Elliott Brace. Emile Heskey featured in all four (including the replayed event) of O’Neill’s League Cup finals with the Foxes, with the latter taking place just weeks before the forward’s move to Anfield.
The sides have met one another just twice in the League Cup over the years, despite their combined 17 finals. A third round meeting in 1986-87 was won 4-1 by hosts Liverpool, thanks to a Steve McMahon hat-trick and a goal from player-manager Kenny Dalglish. Craig Shakespeare’s Foxes then hosted Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in a third round meeting in the 2016-17 competition – second half goals from Shinji Okazaki and Islam Slimani saw the hosts win the game 2-0. Neither of the third round winners would progress to win those competitions – Dalglish’s Liverpool lost the 1987 final 2-1 to Arsenal, whilst Leicester – by then managed by Claude Puel – were knocked out after extra time at home to Chelsea in the quarter finals.
Given the wider footballing & societal contexts, this week’s game comes at a bit of an awkward time for both sides – the clubs and their supporters can be forgiven for not regarding this a priority to embrace with enthusiasm. That being said, the competition looks wide open this season and both sides will sense the opportunity for some silverware – given the tendency for Premier League clubs to make use of their squads in the League Cup, this match also presents an opportunity for youth & fringe players. The hosts may be the more rested of the two sides, having not played since beating Newcastle United 4-0 on the 12th December – Klopp’s visiting Reds have played twice since, and will be hoping that the recent spread of Covid-19 cases amongst his squad has been halted prior to the busy festive period (which, at the time of writing, looks set to progress as scheduled: Joe Gomez, Neco Williams, Tyler Morton, and James Milner will all likely feature, whilst Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi will likely once again be trusted to deliver the goals following a combined five goals the two preceding rounds.
hartejack 