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Showing results for tags 'dun-dun-dundun-dun-dundundundun!'.
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I'll start off by saying that, regardless of the outcome of this game, I'm not expecting an awful lot from our defence of the League Cup. Firstly, the last time we defended a trophy, Uncle Joe was in charge! Since then, winning a domestic cup has led to an early round exit the following season. Secondly, Slot is working with a very trimmed-down squad as a lot of the young players who stepped up so well last season have either been sold or are out on loan somewhere. I think Danns is still injured, but only Nallo and Nyoni seem to be at the level of last year's group. That's not to say the others are not good players. They may well be, and they may well be better than the ones last year. They lack experience outside of youth football though, and it's a huge difference. Having the youngsters out on loan should really benefit them, as we've seen with Conor and Jarell in particular. West Ham have had a middling start to the season under new coach Lopetegui. They don't have Europe this season so no real need to rest players for this game I reckon. On the face of it, they've recruited pretty well this summer, bringing in Kilman, Summerville and Fullkrug. They've brought in Wan-Bissaka, who has almost no positional sense but loves the sort of blocks and slide tackles so beloved of the average British pundit. They've also added the sought-after Todibo in defence and a little bit of midfield finesse with Soler in midfield, both on loan. I've never seen Todibo play but he's always linked with the likes of us, the red Mancs and Arsenal, and no doubt Chelsea have tried doing a deal at some point. I'd expect Slot to ring the changes for this one. Harvey is still out. Depending on whether Ali is going to be available for upcoming games, we might see Jaros get a debut as Queef is saved for bigger games. Conor, Jarell and Joe I'd expect to see from the start, along with Curtis, Endo and Fede. Cody might start this one too. Not sure if Morton will be utilised, but I imagine our regular starters will be on the bench. If it's level after 90 minutes, the game goes straight to penalties so there's no reason to worry about flogging players for a gruelling 120 minutes. I'm hoping for but not expecting a similar performance and result to last season, which was very fluid and dominant. How have our previous managers got on in their first League Cup tie against the Hammers? Shankly...27/10/1971...2nd Round, 1st leg...West Ham 2-1 Liverpool (Graham) Paisley...14/03/1981...Final...Liverpool 1-1 West Ham (A Kennedy) Fagan...N/A Dalglish...30/11/1988...4th Round...West Ham 4-1 Liverpool (Aldridge pen) Souness...N/A Evans...N/A Houllier...N/A Benitez...N/A Hodgson...N/A Dalglish...N/A Rodgers...N/A Klopp...20/12/2023... 5th Round...Liverpool 5-1 West Ham (Szoboszlai, Jones 2, Gakpo, Salah) I don't ask for much. Maximum motivation, control, application, attitude and concentration from minute one. Make the next round please. Get it done!