by Chris Rowland.
Liverpool v Leeds. All red v all white. Lancashire (sort of) v Yorkshire. Shankly v Revie. Quite often a title decider.The match that gave Liverpool their first ever FA Cup back in 1965.
Liverpool v Leeds has history alright. But not so much has been recent history, since their title in 1991/2 and then Peter Ridsdale’s high risk stint at the casino that ultimately backfired and saw them relegated under a mountain of debt, to remain in obscurity ever since, with a bewildering sequence of ownership and managerial changes.
But there seems to be an upturn at the moment. Under ex-Swansea manager Garry Monk, Leeds sit fifth in the Championship after a 2-1 win at Rotherham United at the weekend.
In the EFL Cup Leeds have already beaten four teams to reach this stage of the tournament. They won a penalty shootout against Norwich at Elland Road in the last round after a 2-2 draw. Before that they beat Blackburn Rovers 1-0, also at Elland Road, won 1-0 at Luton Town in the Second Round and again won on penalties in the First, after a 2-2 draw at Fleetwood Town.
The match at Anfield, kick off 19.45 UK time, will be shown live on Sky, and all tickets have been sold, with 5,500 sold to Leeds supporters.
Leeds boss Garry Monk can’t wait. He says:
“Everyone wants to play against Liverpool and I have a decision to make. This competition has really helped us, we have used the cup games to really build momentum.
“When you get to this stage in the competition anything can happen and it’s going to be a really good test. No matter what happens it will be a great experience.
“We want to win, we go into each game with the mentality and belief that we can win and tomorrow is no different.”
The last time the two sides met was seven years ago in the same competition, when Liverpool ran out 1-0 winners at Elland Road thanks to David Ngog’s second half strike.
Leeds’ last trip to Anfield was back in 2003, in the Premier League, when goals from Michael Owen, Danny Murphy and Florent Sinama Pongolle helped Liverpool to a 3-1 victory, with Alan Smith scoring for Leeds.
This is the third time the two clubs have met in the League Cup, with Liverpool going through both previous times, once after a replay:
Rnd 4, 1972: Liverpool 2 Leeds United 2
Replay : Leeds United 0 Liverpool 1
Rnd 3, 2009: Leeds United 0 Liverpool 1
Liverpool’s League Cup record:
Played: 230 Won: 139 Drawn: 44 Lost: 47 Scored: 464 Conceded: 222
Liverpool’s League Cup record at the quarter final stage (including replays):
Played: 24 Won: 15 Drawn: 4 Lost: 5 Scored: 51 Conceded: 28
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