Are you ready to witness history? We’re about to see a club field field their U23s in a match on Tuesday night, and then their senior team, in a match in a different competition, the very next night. Liverpool, led by Under-23s manager Neil Critchley, heads to Villa Park to take on Aston Villa in the League Cup quarterfinals.
This is the game for the kids, with the senior team in action the following night, in Qatar against Monterrey, for the Club World Cup. It’s the by-product of Liverpool’s still being alive in five different competitions and playing for seven different trophies this season. By the way, Sunday saw Liverpool FC announce their 20 man traveling squad to Qatar, and midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum was fit enough to make the cut.
Central defender Dejan Lovren, however, is not healthy enough yet. Getting back to the EFL Cup, yes, Liverpool will technically be playing in this match, but this will be nothing like the Liverpool we know.
Here’s the Liverpool starting lineup prediction from Sports Mole:
Kelleher; Hoever, Van den Berg, Clayton, Larouci; Chirivella, Dixon-Bonner, Kane; Elliott, Brewster, Longstaff
Yes, it’s going to be quite an experience to say the least. It also provides a golden opportunity for the Villans to get a trophy, as the odds are strongly in their favor of a tournament semi-final berth, and from there they would need just two more wins.
Liverpool FC at Aston Villa FC League Cup Quarterfinal FYIs
Kickoff: Tues Dec 17, 745, Villa Park
Odds via Paddy Power: Liverpool FC win 7/1, Draw 6/1, Aston Villa win 2/9
Prediction: Aston Villa 4, Liverpool 0
A top flight side versus another top flight side’s junior varsity? It’s easy to predict how this one will end.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.