Manchester City are beatable in League Cup, says Klopp

Manchester City have been in four previous League Cup finals, winning in 1970, 1976 and most recently in 2014 against Sunderland.

Between the pair they have won 18 European trophies, including the Super Cup. Post Rafa Benitez era, two of Liverpool’s last three managers have failed to win anything.

“It’s great. We deserve these games, with the game yesterday [against Augsburg]”.

Liverpool won 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium in November when they last faced City, but Klopp and Pellegrini have attempted to play down the significance of that result.

“It is very hard [to predict] because both teams are inconsistent at this moment, but I think Liverpool will play a slightly counter-attacking game and I will just edge for a Liverpool victory”. We had a good game and lost 1-0 to them, which is not what we deserved. It gives us the chance to make it better.

“There were no easy games in this round so there was no chance for an easy game”.

Should Liverpool overcome Manchester City on Sunday – “beat them when you meet them” as Klopp succinctly put it – perceptions of what the current side are capable of will change.

Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling has been urged by Manuel Pellegrini to ignore the inevitable boo boys at Wembley as he looks to secure his first medal with the club against former employers Liverpool.

The first leg will be played at home, on the 10th of March, followed by the second leg away from home the following week.

“We only had one problem – we didn’t use them and score often enough”.

Social media went into meltdown when the old rivals were drawn together in the last 16, with Jamie Carragher leading the way.

United came through into the Round of 16 with a 6-3 aggregate victory against Danish champions FC Midtjylland on Thursday evening while Liverpool overcame German side Augsburg 1-0.

The Premier League’s other representative, Tottenham, will face tournament favourites Borussia Dortmund.

Elsewhere, Lazio will face Sparta Prague, Fenerbahce will face Braga, Basel will take on Sevilla, who are largely the favourites to win their fifth Europa League title in the past 11 years. However, a clinical penalty from Vice-captain James Milner ensured that Liverpool progressed to the last 16 of UEFA’s second tier competition for the first time in five years.