Liverpool vs Swansea Preview, Team News, Likely Line-Up, Key Man + Predicted Score

Liverpool will be hoping to get back to winning ways when they take on Swansea City at Anfield in the fourth round of the Capital One Cup tonight.

The Reds inconsistent season continued with a frustrating 0-0 draw at home to Hull City on Saturday which leaves them in seventh place in the Premier League table after nine games.

That result came after a 3-0 loss to European Champions Real Madrid in the Champions League last week so Brendan Rodgers will be keen to get back on track with a win this evening.

But Liverpool will need to play better than they did in the previous round of the League Cup as they needed a dramatic 14-13 penalty shoot-out victory to beat Middlesbrough after the Championship outfit had held them to a 2-2 draw after extra time.

Swansea arrive at Anfield after an impressive start to the season with a 2-0 win over Leicester City at the weekend seeing Garry Monks men leapfrog Liverpool in to sixth place, and they will be looking to continue their good form with a positive result tonight.

Team news

Liverpool will continue to be without star striker Daniel Sturridge so Rickie Lambert is expected to be given a rare start with under-fire Mario Balotelli given a rest.

Rodgers is expected to make several changes to his side with the likes of Kolo Toure, Jose Enrique, Lucas Leiva, Lazar Markovic and Fabio Borini all in contention.

Glen Johnson, Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho could all start having been left on the bench at the weekend.

Mamadou Sakho is out for another two weeks so he joins fellow defender Jon Flanagan on the sidelines.

Swansea could name a strong side as they look to put together a morale-boosting run in the cup.

Monk may bring in Gerhard Tremmel to replace Lukasz Fabianski in goal as he’s started Swansea’s two previous League Cup ties, but otherwise changes are likely to be at a minimum.

Likely Line-Up

Key Man

Philippe Coutinho: The Brazilian came off the bench at QPR to completely change the game in Liverpool’s favour while he was also a positive influence when he came on against Hull. With the likes of Sterling and Lallana expected to be rested, Rodgers will be looking for Coutinho to be their creative hub tonight.

Predicted Score

Liverpool 2-1 Swansea: I expect this is going to be a close game and although Swansea should give Liverpool a real run for their money, I expect the hosts to just edge this one.

What team would you like to see start and whats your predicted score?