Having both come up trumps in their recent FA Cup third-round ties, Liverpool and Fulham seek another knockout scalp in the first round of their EFL Cup semi-final on Wednesday evening.

The Reds welcome the Cottagers to Anfield on the back of a smash-and-grab 2-0 win over Arsenal in the FA Cup, while Marco Silva's crop overcame Rotherham United 1-0 to reach round four.

Match preview

Following in the footsteps of West Ham United - who absorbed nearly 90 minutes of pressure at the Emirates before coming away with a 2-0 victory - Liverpool were the latest team to benefit from the Gunners' worrying wastefulness on Sunday evening, where Jurgen Klopp's men reached round four against all the odds.

With Virgil van Dijk absent due to illness and Mohamed Salah preparing to compete for Africa Cup of Nations glory, Liverpool could have easily been two or three goals down at the break, but as Arsenal tried and failed time and time again to breach Alisson Becker's net, the Reds ruthlessly punished their hosts through a Jakub Kiwior own goal and Luis Diaz injury-time strike.

By travelling home from North London with a stellar success under their belt, the Reds are once again fighting for a quadruple of honours at this juncture - Premier League and Europa League supremacy are very much realistic aims - and the Merseyside giants will be turning out in the EFL Cup semi-finals for a record 19th time this week.

The nine-time winners have sent Leicester City, Bournemouth and West Ham United packing to reach the last four - albeit while failing to keep a clean sheet in any of those contests - and from their eight previous semi-final first legs at home, the Reds have never been defeated.

Sunday's beating of Arsenal also stretched Liverpool's unbeaten run across all tournaments to six matches, and they have gone 23 competitive games without ending up on the wrong end of the scoreline at Anfield, although their most recent EFL Cup loss on home soil came against a capital club in the shape of Arsenal in 2020.

Four years later, Klopp and his opposite number Silva can share a joke over their respective beatings of the Gunners, who also succumbed to a 2-1 loss to the Cottagers on New Year's Eve before Fulham made it back-to-back victories on Friday evening.

The visit of Championship strugglers Rotherham was not expected to be a significant test of Fulham's FA Cup credentials, especially with Silva putting out a formidable starting XI, but only the one goal could separate the two sides in West London, as Bobby Decordova-Reid - who notched the winner against Arsenal - struck with 24 minutes on the clock.

Before Fulham can further their ambitions of a maiden FA Cup crown, the Cottagers can move one step closer to a first-ever EFL Cup triumph with a shock success at Anfield, and Wednesday's game will mark the visitors' inaugural semi-final appearance in the competition, with their previous best being quarter-final exits in 1968, 1971, 2001 and 2005.

The Cottagers have already tasted success against one Merseyside outfit in this year's tournament, sinking Everton on penalties in the last eight after eliminating Tottenham Hotspur, Norwich City and Ipswich Town in the earlier rounds, but not since the 2012-13 season has a first-time semi-finalist managed to progress to the showpiece contest.

Either Middlesbrough or West London rivals Chelsea will lie in wait for Fulham should they upset the odds over their two-legged tie, but the Cottagers have lost all five of their previous EFL Cup clashes with Liverpool and were on the wrong end of a 4-3 Premier League thriller at Anfield just one month ago.

Team News

Liverpool boss Klopp called a spade a spade while elaborating on Van Dijk's illness over the weekend, admitting that the Dutchman looked "s***" as he reported for training last week, but he has been passed fit to start this week.

However, the Reds manager has now lost Trent Alexander-Arnold for the next few weeks due to a knee injury, while none of Dominik Szoboszlai (hamstring), Andrew Robertson (shoulder), Kostas Tsimikas (collarbone), Stefan Bajcetic (calf), Thiago Alcantara (hip), Ben Doak (knee) or Joel Matip (ACL) will be leaving the treatment room just yet either.

Salah and Japan international Wataru Endo will also sit out both legs of the semi-final owing to their continental commitments, and while senior options for change are extremely limited at this moment in time, Conor Bradley, Ryan Gravenberch and Diogo Jota could freshen up the hosts' XI.

Fulham's ranks have also been depleted by AFCON call-ups, as Nigerian duo Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi have departed to join up with their national teams alongside Senegal's Fode Ballo-Toure, although the latter has found game time extremely hard to come by anyway.

No new injury concerns arose against Rotherham, although Adama Traore (thigh) and Tim Ream (calf) missed the visit of the Millers, and only the latter has a slight chance of making the cut this week.

A few recognisable faces in Bernd Leno, Joao Palhinha and Raul Jimenez ought to return to Silva's starting lineup after being rested for the clash with Rotherham, but former Liverpool man Harry Wilson - who has one goal and one assist in this season's EFL Cup - should reprise his role in attack.

Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Gomez; Jones, Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Jota, Nunez, Diaz

Fulham possible starting lineup:
Leno; Tete, Adarabioyo, Diop, Robinson; Cairney, Palhinha; Wilson, Pereira, Decordova-Reid; Jimenez

We say: Liverpool 2-1 Fulham

Having enjoyed an additional two days' worth of rest from their FA Cup exertions, Fulham have the resources needed to trouble a Liverpool backline who should not have emerged unscathed from their battle with Arsenal, although the expected return of Van Dijk will do wonders for the Reds' defensive nous.

Silva's side have already come good in the attacking third once at Anfield this season, but even without Salah strutting his stuff, Liverpool possess enough attacking know-how to glean a slender advantage over a Fulham side missing two key centre-backs.


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