Liverpool v Man City preview

Liverpool v Man City (agg 1 - 0)

Carling Cup semi-final, second leg

Venue: Anfield Date: Wednesday, 25 January 

Kick-off: 1945 GMT

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany serves the last game of his four-match ban, so Stefan Savic is expected to continue at centre-back.

- Mario Balotelli will also be banned if City decide not to appeal against his four-game suspension by Wednesday's 1800 GMT deadline.

- Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish may make changes to his side following their disappointing defeat to Bolton.

- Jay Spearing remains an injury doubt and Luis Suarez is still suspended.

Liverpool may hold the advantage going into the second leg of this Carling Cup semi-final, but their squad come into this match with a very different morale to that of opponents Manchester City following this weekend's results.

The Reds were abject in their defeat by Bolton, yet another match in which huge question marks were raised over the purchases manager Kenny Dalglish has made since returning to the club. His furious reaction to the performance of his players was pointed: "If that's the level they expect this football club to play at, they won't be here long," he said.

In contrast, Roberto Mancini's Manchester City side are on a high following their sensational injury-time win over Tottenham on Sunday that bore all the hallmarks of a side destined to win the title.

But they still have it all to do in this tie given they trail 1-0 after the first-leg.

Winning at Anfield is also not something they are accustomed to - it has been nine years since their last victory there. Given how intimidating the Kop can be on a midweek cup night - and Liverpool's desperation to play at Wembley for the first time since 1996 - Mancini's men may have it all do.