Following last nights round of League Cup fixtures — which, it has to be said, we thoroughly enjoyed — Liverpool have drawn Middlesbrough at Anfield in the third round of the competition.
Sandwiched between Premier League clashes with West Ham United and Everton, the Championship side will travel to Anfield for the first time since the Reds ran out 2-1 winners back in August of 2008. Liverpool supporters everywhere have fond memories of the League Cup having one it on eight seperate occasions — the most recent coming under the watchful eye of Kenny Dalglish back in 2012 when his side saw off a persistent Cardiff City outfit on penalties.
Likewise, Middlesbrough also have fond memories of the domestic cup competition have won it — their only major trophy to date — back in 2004 when they beat Bolton Wanderers 2-1 at the Millennium Stadium in Wales. Joseph-Désiré Job opened the scoring from a Boudewijn Zenden cross before the former Red scored from the spot after Job was tripped up in the area. Kevin Davies pulled on back for Bolton, but it only ended up being a consolation as Boro went on to lift the cup.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has targeted some silverware as one of the main objectives of this season and he could do a lot worse than to claim the League Cup. Although the Reds will have their work cut out for them with the rigours of Champions League football sure to take their toll, you’ll hear very few complaints if we end up taking a trip to Wembley this coming winter.
