The last 16 of the English League Cup will have a duel between the last champions of the Premier League. manchester city and Liverpool face each other this Thursday, starting at 5:00 pm (Brasília time), at Eithad Stadium.
English football is back after the World Cup break. Interestingly, the big stars of each team, Haaland and Salah, did not qualify for the World Cup and will be on the field in the final.
manchester city
The “citizens” have won four of the last five editions of the English League Cup. Last season, they were eliminated on penalties by West Ham, in the Round of 16. In the current competition, Manchester City passed Chelsea in the previous phase, defeating their opponents by 2-0.
The team led by Pep Guardiola held a friendly against Girona during the break for the World Cup and beat the Spaniards 2-0, with goals from De Bruyne and Haaland. In a press conference, the coach revealed that some players who were with their selections returned to training this week, but are still doubtful for the duel against Liverpool.
“The World Cup players are in better condition than those who were here. Sergio Gomez, Erling Haaland, Riyad Mahrez, Cole Palmer they are a little lost. They competed every day and we had holidays. That’s why it was so important to keep the pace. We had a month off,” declared Guardiola.
Liverpool
The “Reds” were responsible for preventing City’s fifth championship in the English League Cup. Liverpool are the current champions of the tournament and beat Chelsea in last season’s final.
—Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 19, 2022
This Thursday, the visitors will not have Jurgen Klopp on the edge of the field, since the German was expelled in the previous phase and assistant Pepijn Lijnders will lead the team. In addition to the coach, Liverpool will be without the injured Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Arthur and the French World Cup finalist Ibrahima Konaté.
“The squad for the Worlds returned strong and those who had already returned like Henderson, Alexander-Arnold, Alisson and Fabinho have energy, good pace and confidence”, revealed Lijnder.
Probable lineups
MANCHESTER CITY: Stefan Ortega; Rico Lewis, Jadel Katongo, Nathan Aké, Sergio Gomez; Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri and Ilkay Gundogan; Riyad Mahrez, Cole Palmer and Erling Haaland.
LIVERPOOL: Caoimhín Kelleher; James Milner, Joel Matip, Joe Gomez, Andrew Robertson; Harvey Elliott, Jordan Henderson, Thiago Alcantara; Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Darwin Núñez.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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