Championship Preview

The Championship kick's off at lunch time at the league leaders, West Ham host Crystal Palace. 

Points are needed at St Andrews when Birmingham meet Nottingham Forest at St Andrews for both very different reasons, Forest are looking over their shoulder in 21st place while Birmingham are eyeing the automatic promotion zone.

Brighton will hope Ipswich's mini revival is short lived as they hope make ground on the playoffs following a 0-0 draw at the KC with Hull in midweek.

Blackpool will be hoping to make ground on the playoffs as well when they face a Bristol City side that sitting a the wrong of the table, points will vital to both sides if they want to improve their season.

Burnley and Millwall will hope to get closer to their targets of Playoffs and steering clear of relegation when they meet at Turf Moor.

Coventry will be hoping they can recover from their 2-0 loss at fellow relegation rivals, Nottingham Forest with win over mid table Barnsley at the Ricoh Arena. Coventry have won the last 4 out of 5 league home games.

Doncaster will also be hoping they can move off the foot of the table when they face Peterborugh side that demolished Bristol City 3-0 last Saturday. Both sides are in the wrong half of the table so points will be vital.

The game of the day is between two playoff contenders, Middlesbrough and Reading. Reading will hope they can conjure a fourth win in a row while Middlesbrough have won the last two games beating Forest 2-1 and Millwall 3-1.

Portsmouth are trying to make up as much points as they can to stay in the division but they'll have a hard job when newly appointed Leeds, Neil Warnock brings his side to Fratton Park play their first game.
Leeds will hope to set off were they left off against Doncaster when they scored a late stoppage time winner in a 3-2 win.

Tomas Kuzsack should make his debut for the Hornets when they welcome second place Southampton to Vicarage Road. Southampton will hope to continue to follow on from their 4-0 thrashing of Derby with a win over Watford to take to the brink at the top of the Championship. 

FA Cup preview.

Sunderland meets Arsenal 7 days after the Gunners 2-1 Premier League win at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland will play host to Arsenal a 2nd consecutive Saturday after winning their 4th round replay against Middlesbrough. Arsenal will be without last week's goal scorer, Thierry Henry after he jetted back off to the States however Gevinho could return to the lineup returning home from Africa Cup of Nations this week. Arsenal will hope a win at the Stadium of Light can take their minds away from their 4-0 humiliation at the San Siro in the Champions League on Wednesday. Sunderland will hope they can claim their first silverware since 1973 and go all the way to the final to claim their third Fa Cup title.

Everton will hope to continue on from their impressive 2-0 win over Chelsea with win over Championship high flyers, Blackpool at Goodison Park. Everton will have to vigilant for Matt Phillips who has hit some form scoring 16 goal in 24 games this season.

Millwall and Bolton can take their eyes of their precarious league positions when they meet at the den on Saturday. Bolton will hope to forget their 2-1 home defeat to the hands of lowly Wigan with victory over the Londoners. Meanwhile Millwall will be positive going into fixture after getting a decent point at Brighton on Tuesday night.

Norwich City will be favorites to advance to the quarter finals when they take on a inconsistent Leicester side at Carrow Road. The Canaries will hope to continue on from their 3-2 win in Wales against Swansea on Saturday while Leicester will want to forget about their 3-2 away defeat to the Hornets.

AVB will hope to forget about Chelsea's top four nightmares with a home tie with Birmingham. Chelsea will surely be favorites to take the victory but Birmingham are sitting highly in the Championship and could give Chelsea a hard time in the lunch time kick off. AVB can hope the FA Cup could be a lifeline to keeping his job so a slip up against Birmingham could cost him dearly.
Predictions.
Sunderland 1-1 Aresnal
Everton 2-1 Blackpool 
Millwall 1-2 Bolton
Norwich 3-0 Leicester 
Chelsea 2-0 Birmingham 

Champions League Preview

The Champions League is back after the winter and the round of 16 kicks off tonight. 

German side, Bayer Leverkusen will have a tough test when they face Barcelona at the Bay arena tonight, Barcelona haven't lost in 13 games in the Champions League so Bayer will surely be up against it. It was no question who came out the group the easier, Barcelona winning their group by 7 points beating Italian side, Ac Milan to top spot. Bayer Leverkusen however, only just scraped through beating Valencia to 2nd spot by 2 points. Relying on a 3-0 win for Chelsea against Valencia to send them through to the, round of 16. Both sides will also be quick to forget the weekend's results, Bayer going down 1-0 at league leaders, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona's difficult task of retaining La liga got harder as they went down 3-2 at Osasuna allowing Real Madrid to open up a 3 point gap.

The other game Tuesday night see's Apoel Nicosia become the first Cypriot side to play in the knockout stages of the Champions league when they take on Lyon at the Stade de gerland. Lyon only just made it into the Round of 16 on goal difference gaining a 7-1 demolition of Dinamo Zagreb to beat Ajax it 2nd spot in the group. Apoel managed to win their group knocking out, Shaktar Donetsk and Fc Porto, sides that had been regularly in Champions League Knockout phases in the last few years. They also beat Zenit to top spot despite losing their final group game 2-0 to Shaktar.

Wednesday night see's one of only two English clubs left in the competition, Arsenal take on Ac Milan at the San Siro. Arsenal will hope the Champions League will give them a chance of Silverware this season however they will have to repeat the heroics of 4 years ago when they reached the last 8 by defeating Ac Milan 2-0 at the San Siro. Ac Milan on the other hand will be hoping they can put one over on Arsenal after that result of 4 years ago. Arsenal managed to win their Champions’ League group beating Marseille to top spot. Ac Milan however were dealt a difficult draw finish second to Barcelona after the Spanish side won all but one of their group games.

The other fixture Wednesday night is Zenit v Benfica, Zenit had to settle for second in their group following Apoel winning it on goal difference. Benfica however beat Manchester United and Basel to top spot winning the group by 1 point.

Verdict 
Bayer Leverkusen v Barcelona 

Both sides will want to forget about their weekend results, so this tie will be great to redeem them. Bayer Leverkusen should be looking out for the win having home advantage as they will need some kind of advantage going into the nou camp in a few weeks time. Bayer will also have to keep the Barcelona midfield quiet if they are to stand any chance of winning the game
Prediction: Bayer Leverkusen 1-1 Barcelona 

Lyon v Apoel. 
Lyon will be quick to forget their 2-1 home defeat to Caen at the weekend and will be hoping the Champions League can provide an escape from the French league. And the hosts will think they have no better of making it through to the quarter finals playing newbie’s however the pressure could get to them. Apoel on the other hand will need to use their fighting sprit they used to get this far, an away goal will be vital
If they want to stand, a good chance of going through to the last 8.
Prediction: Lyon 2-1 Apoel.

AC Milan v Arsenal. 
Both gaining 2-1 road wins at the weekend both sides will be keen to follow to with a victory. Ac Milan will hope to take their league form into the game and will be reliant on Champions League veteran, Zlatan Ibrahimovic to help them beat the Gunners. Arsenal on the other hand, will be relying on RVP to provide them with attack power and they should go all out attacking in order to get an away goal to make it that bit easier for when they come to the Emarites in a few weeks.
Prediction: Ac Milan 1-1 Arsenal. 

Zenit v Benfica.
Benfica will need to bring their league form into the difficult trip to Russia to take on Zenit. They can hope Rodrigo will be on target again following a brace against Nacional in a 4-1 win. Zenit will much fancied in the first tie with a long trip to Russia coupled with freezing temperatures not being the most convenient for the Portuguese side. Zenit will be hoping these factors will prove dividend in deciding the outcome of the fixture.
Prediction: Zenit 2-0 Benfica. 

Championship preview,

First meets second in what is expected to a cracking encounter in the Npower Championship tonight.

The stand out tie of the evening will be West Ham v Southampton, as first meets second in the Championship tonight. Saints can go top after closing the gap to just point on Saturday following their 2-0 win over Burnley. But they will be hoping that their new signing Billy Sharp can add to his tally of 11 goals this season to propel them back to the top of the table. West Ham on the other hand, will be hoping they can conjure up back to back home wins after beating Millwall 2-1 earlier in the month. It will surely be brutal encounter but with the Hammers fielding home advantage it should see them extend their lead at the top of the league.
 Another stand out tie is the game between two of the playoff hopefuls, Birmingham and Hull at St Andrews. Birmingham will be hoping they can continue their unbeaten home record going however Hull will take heart from their 3-0 thrashing of relegation threatened Bristol City on Saturday. Both sides have hit great form recently so it should be a close encounter with the Blues possibly winning it by a goal or two.
4th place Cardiff take on posh at the Cardiff City Stadium and they will want to get their February back on track after losing 2 games in a row to Blackpool and Leicester. However Posh, refreshed from their break at the weekend following their game with West Ham being called for a frozen pitch will be hoping they can finally put 3 points on the board in 2012 after only gaining 2 points in 2012. The game should be an easy win for Cardiff, although there is never an easy game in the Championship but Peterborough will have a tough job on their hands if they are to challenge Cardiff.
 Blackpool head to the Keepmoat hoping they can keep their automatic promotion hunt on track after it took a slight knock in a 1-1 draw with Portsmouth at Bloomfield road on Saturday. Ian Holloway will be keen to gain the win at the Keepmoat following a good start to February beating Cardiff 3-1 and drawing 1-1 with Pompey on Saturday. And Doncaster will pose not much of a threat with their prolific forward, Billy Sharp going to Saints. If Blackpool can attack like they have been doing recently then the Doncaster defense will be in for a long night, resulting in a convincing win for the Tangerines.
 Brighton will be need of points to mount a playoff challenge when they welcome strugglers Millwall to the Amex tonight, they will be keen to keep their winning run at home going in which they won every home game of 2012. Millwall on the other hand are slipping away fast and will be hoping they can claw back to safety after letting a great chance to the clear the gap with the bottom 3 further after only drawing 0-0 at home to Derby on Saturday.
 Middlesbrough and Forest will be in desperate need for the points but for completely different reason, Middlesbrough will need to gain their first win of 2012 after slipping away from the playoffs in January after they were secure and looking at the automatics on Boxing Day. Forest will be hoping they can pull themselves closer to safety after having a poor season under the guidance of both Steve McClaren and now Steve Cotteril. It has been an unusual season for Forest who are regularly contesting the playoff spots. But it's in no doubt it will be a fierce encounter at the Riverside tonight.

Ipswich v Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough are in search of their first Championship win since 2011 however Ipswich will look to stop them when the two sides meet at Portman Road.

It's back to league business with Middlesbrough following their 2-1 dramatic cup exit to local rivals, Sunderland on Wednesday night. Middlesbrough will be hope they can take their fighting spirit that took them so far in the Sunderland game to Portman Road however Ipswich will be hoping they can repeat a similar performance to what they produced last time they were at home, defeating league leaders, West Ham 5-1. Ipswich will be also looking to extend their gap from the bottom 3 after winning 2 games on the bounce has steered them 10 points clear. But, Tony Mowbray will be clear to his Boro players that no less than victory will be good enough to stay in the playoff hunt. With the Hull chasing Boro's tails it could be a difficult rest of the season in which results will be vital.

Goals may also not be on the cards, as last time the sides met in September at the Riverside, it took fine goalkeeping from on-loan goalkeepers, Carl Ikeme and David Stockdale to keep the scores tied at 0-0.
With Carl Ikeme producing the only real action in the game, reacting to a Michael Chopra with a fine save.

Ipswich will be without, Lee Bowyer who has returned to training but will still miss the fixture.. Boro may be without Faris Haroun (hamstring) and Barry Robson (dislocated finger.)

A must win?

Days after playing an entharlling fixture with Sunderland in the Fa Cup, Middlesbrough face their attetion to a league game with Leicester city at the King Power Stadium on Wednesday night.

After dropping out of the top six due to a 4-1 win for Birmingham at Elland Road against Leeds on Tuesday night. Boro will have to go playoff chasing, Leicester City in need of  a result.  With both sides have successfully making it into the draw for the 5th round of the FA Cup following a 2-0 win for Leicester over Swindon but Middlesbrough will have to face a replay with Sunderland after drawing 1-1 at the Stadium of light on Sunday. Leicester will be hopeful they can carry on their from their 2-0 win over Southampton in their last league outing with a win over Middlesbrough however Middlesbrough will be hopeful recent signing, Lukas Jutkiewicz can make an impact and score his first goal for the club after a dismal start to 2012 in the league, after Boro failed to gain any points in the month of January.

It is questionable where the fixture will go in terms of a result, Leicester have been inconsistent beating the likes of Southampton however losing to Barnsley at the king power. Middlesbrough however have fairly poor this calender year and it would have seemed that a Leicester win would be on the cards. But after a sprited perfomance against Premier League, Sunderland on Sunday proved that the Boro were still keen to go places this season.  Last time out it was a 0-0 draw at the Riverside with the game being far from a spectacle.

Wolves v Birmingham

Premier League meets Championship in a Rivalry Fa cup 3rd round game tonight.

League status and league form should go out of the window for this tie as Premier League, Wolves. Take on Championship side, Birmingham. The Midlands derby will be a fierce encounter with the home side Wolves will be keen to win their first game of 2012. Meanwhile, Birmingham will hope the goals will come again after their 6-0 demoltion over Millwall at The Den on Saturday. The fixture that was only a Premier League game last season shall throw up some thrills and spills and may show a real example of the 'Magic of the Fa Cup'.

Mick Mccarthy will rest star striker, Stephen Fletcher for tonight's fixture meaning Slyvan Ebanks-Blake should start up front with Irish forward, Kevin Doyle. Meanwhile Kevin Foley, Dave Edwards and Roger Johnson will all miss out due to injury. Chris Hughton should shuffle his squad following the 6-0 success at Millwall, meaning winger, Wade Elliot will return to the side after being benched at The Den. Defender Pablo Ibanez will also return following a knee injury. 

My Prediction: Wolves 2-0 Birmingham. 

Wrexham v Brighton

Brighton travel to Wales to play high flying conference side, Wrexham in the Fa cup 3rd replay tonight. 

Brighton will be hopeful they can finish off the tie that they failed to win after drawing 1-1 at the Amex Stadium. The Championship side will hope they can continue their unbeaten start to 2012 with a comfortable win over the Conference leaders. Wrexham however will hope to follow on from their 2-1 away success at Tamworth with a cup upset against the south coast club tonight. The tie that has sold out should have good atmosphere at the Racecourse ground, however the away side will be much fancied to take the victory,however  it would be foolish to rule out the Conference leaders.


The home side will be without, Jake Speight who has a hamstring injury, meaning Danny Wright, who has also recovered from a similar hamstring injury will appear. Brighton will also be without some key players with Craig Mackail Smith being out due to a severe eye injury and Will Hoskins after he felt twinges on his knee comeback in the game against Bristol City on Saturday.

My Prediction: Wrexham 1-2 Brighton 

 

Bolton v Macclesfield

Macclesfield head to the Reebok Stadium for the 2nd time this season to take on Bolton in aFa cup 3rd round replay.

Macclesfield, who are currently 15th in League 2 following a 2-1 home defeat to Torquay on Saturday. Will head to the Reebok Stadium for the second time this season after the sides 2-2 draw at Moss Rose meant the game went to a Replay. The two sides met earlier in the season, in a 2nd round Carling Cup tie in which Bolton won 2-1 with Tuncay scoring a winner. The League 2 side will hope to continue the Premier League side's misery with a victory tonight. However Bolton will hope to forget their Premier League nightmare with a comfortable win over the side that sit 64 places behind them in the Football League.

The Premier League side will be without star defender, Gary Cahill who completed has completed his move to Chelsea. Macclesfield however may be without George Donnelly, who suffered a groin injury in the 2-1 defeat.

Leicester City V Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest can take their mind off their disastrous leauge postion with a Fa cup replay with Leicester City tonight.

Forest are struggling of late in the Npower Championship so their Fa Cup replay with fellow Championship side, Leicester City ,will be a welcome distraction  from their precarious league postion. Which see's them currently 22nd and 2 points  from  safety following their 3-0 home defeat to leaders Southampton on Saturday. Meanwhile Leicester City will hope to eradicate any memory of their 2-1 defeat to Barnsley on Saturday with win at the King Power tonight. The tie should offer up a great encounter, with league form going out of the window and the two sides battling till the very end.

Jeff Schlup is a doubt for the home side and the African cup of nations will also prove to be a pain for Nigel Pearson with Sol Bamba and John Pantsil missing from the side to represent their respected nations. Forest however will be without Centre Back, Luke Chambers as he starts his 3 matchs, so Guy Moussi is expected to deputise for Forest. There will also be without, Wes Morgan who has suffered a ankle ligament injury.

Wigan Athletic v Manchester City.

Manchester City will hope to pull 3 points clear as they head to the Dw Stadium to take on Wigan.

Wigan will be hopefull they can have repeat perfomance of their 1-1 draw with Chelsea earlier in the season. However Manchester City will hope to do the expected thing and pull 3 points clear of near rivals Manchester United with a victory. A win would lift Wigan out of the bottom three and they will be hopefull they can repeat the 2-1 success over City of 3 seasons ago.

Manchester City are hoping for the return of skillfull midfielder, David Silva after assitant manager, David Platt said he is expected to recover from his ankle injury. However Mario Balotelli is expected not to start after he limped off against Liverpool in the Carling Cup. On the Wigan side, Winger Albert Crusat has recovered from a back injury while Shaun Maloney is being treated to get back to fitness. But dynamic midfielder,  Mohammed Diame will be missing as he is on African cup of nations duty with Senegal.

Middlesbrough v Burnley

The Clarets will be hoping to become only the second side to take victory at the riverside this season. 

Burnley will be hoping they can reedeem themselves following from their 4-1 cup defeat away to Norwich, meanwhile Middlesbrough will have to up their game for 2012 after performing poorly in both games this calender despite a victory over the shrews last week. Middlesbrough will also miss influential midfielders, Barry Robson and Nicky Bailey who miss out through injury and suspension. The teesside club will be looking to complete the double over the lancashire side following a 2-0 win over them in september.

My Verdict: Middlesbrough 2-1 Burnley

Portsmouth v West ham

A premier league tie only two years ago, the two sides clash at fratton park in the champioship on saturday. 

The hammers will be hopefull they can put sundays fa cup misery at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday down with victory over pompey at Fratton park. Pompey who also were knocked out of the Fa cup following at 4-0 defeat to chelsea ,will hope they can grab revenge over west ham after their narrow 4-3 defeat at upton park in september.

my verdict: Portsmouth 1-1 West Ham

Nottingham Forest v Southampton

Nottingham Forest welcome league leaders southampton to the city ground and will hope to continue on from their 3-1 league success over ipswich at Portman Road.

A few weeks ago it would seem highly likely that this tie would destined to end up with saints the winning side, however recent results have shown serious weakness in southampton's promotion push. Forest meanwhile will be hoping that they rectify their 3-1 away success over Ipswich with victory over the south coast club tommorow. Southampton will hope that victory can let them truely forget about the nightmare at brighton last league game.

my verdict is: Nottingham Forest 2-1 Southampton 

 

Doncaster v Cardiff

High flying Cardiff City travel north to face struggling Doncaster. 

The welsh side will be hopefull they can break into the automatic promotion zone with a victory over second bottom, Doncaster Rovers. Donny will still have foward, Billy Sharp in the starting line up after his talks with Leicester over a possible move have dragged on. The fixture will also see, Doncaster hand a debut to Damien Plessis following him recieving international clearence. Donny will also be hopeful they can repeat a 2-0 success over the bluebirds once again after the result of august 2009, only the second Doncaster home victory over Cardiff.

My Verdict for this game is: Doncaster 0-2 Cardiff

Premier League Preview.

With league leaders manchester city playing till monday night, the attention focuses to second place manchester united who host struggling bolton to old trafford.

Bolton will hope to head to old trafford and repeat the same result as fellow strugglers blackburn, however manchester united will adiment they will not lose 3 premier games on the bounce so we expect united to be all guns blazing. Paul Scholes could make his premier league return after returning to action after being claimed to have ''missed football''. Manchester united fans will also be optimistic after, Rio Ferdinand recovered from a stomach illness and is set to start in the backline. Meanwhile for Bolton, Jussi Jaskelaain will regain the number 1 spot after recovering from a thigh injury.

Martin O'neil faces a tough test as he takes his Sunderland side to stamford bridge to face chelsea. The wearsiders will hope to follow on from the away success at london road on sunday whilst chelsea will have to cope without the talents of, Dider Drogba and Solomon Kalou after they jetted off to the african cup of nations. However on the lighter side for chelsea as John Terry and Daniel Sturridge have both emerged as fit.

Everton will want to reedeem themselves from a midweek defeat at Tottenham with a good perfomance at Aston Villa however the villans will want to follow up on their 3-1 cup success at Bristol Rovers
The game could also see the return to the premier league for Robbie Keane as he is set to make his debut for villa following his loan move from La Galaxy. Everton meanwhile will want to hand northern Irish midfielder, Darren Gibson his debut following his loan move from Manchester United. It could also see the premier league debut of young everton defender, Shane Duffy who has gained experience at football league clubs scunthorpe and burnley however this pends on the fitness of defender, Sylvain Distin.

Liverpool are again without Luis Suarez after he continues his 8 match ban, this will be a blow for liverpool after Suarez has poised as nuesance to Stoke following his performance at the brittania in the league cup last time the two sides met. However, Andy Carroll shall relish the oppourtunity as liverpool take to the field against Stoke for a what is set to be a enthralling physical premier league fixture


Tottenham will hope their home success continues and they can extend their winning run to 3 league games when they welcome wolves to the lane. However they will still be without Sandro, William Gallas and Ledley King but there is room for some optimism as it expected to see the return of top midfielder, Scott Parker. Mick Mccarthy will hope wolves can sneak a result after recent results have left his side looking over their shoulder with point between them and the drop zone.

After encouraging to boycott last weeks fa cup to watch non league football, Blackburn fans should return to ewood park to watch their side play Fulham. Blackburn will be looking to gain their first  win for 2012 after losing to both stoke, in the league and newcastle in the cup. On the other hand fulham will want to extend their 100% start 2012 with win following on from their 2-1 and 4-0 home wins to fellow london clubs, Arsenal and Charlton respectively.

. West Brom will be hoping that they can turn their narrow defeats to the hands of Everton and Tottenham into to a win this weekend when they face Norwich City at the hawthorns. However Norwich will hope to seek revenge for West Brom 1-0 win at Carrow road in september. Although the game looks more favourable to Norwich with all the injury problems faced by the baggies as Mlumbu and Long are being assessed but it is definite that Gera, Brunt and Reid will miss the fixture.

Birmingham City v Ipswich Town.

Ipswich will be hoping to put their cup misery at Hull to bed with a victory over Birmingham City at st andrews tonight. They will be hoping end their dismal form by attempting to beat the midlands club following their 3-1 downfall at home to forest last monday and their 3-1 away defeat in the fa cup against Hull on saturday. Meanwhile Birmingham will hope to be the winning side following two draws on the bounce, First a 1-1 draw at london road against peterborough and then a 0-0 draw against bitter rivals, wolves in the Fa cup at home on Saturday.

Team news: Birmingham will be without new loanee man, Guirane N'Daw following his departure to be with the Senegal squad for the upcoming african cup of nations tournament. Birmingham have will be also without New zealand international foward, Chris Wood following his return to West brom after a relatively successful time at St Andrews.

Ipswich: Goalkeeper, Alex Mccarthy could make his first start for ipswich after being captured by Paul Jewell on loan from Reading. The tractor boys will also be without midfielder, Jimmy Bullard and Lee Bowyer will unfortuantely miss out on making a return to St andrews due being unfit for the fixture.

Tottenham v Everton

Tottenham and Everton return to Premier League action tonight following their Fa cup successes against Cheltenham and Tamworth. Tottenham will hope to continue their excellent form and follow on from their 3-0 cup success with a win over Everton this evening. However Everton will hope to emulate their cup success over tamworth into league success and will hope to reedeem themselves following their 2-1 defeat to Bolton Wanderers, which most notably goalkeeper, Tim Howard managed to score in. Everton will also be hoping records can be made tonight, with Tottenham currently on 999 Premier League goals conceded ,the Everton side will hope to become the side to score the 1000th. It will also be a milestone for toffees stopper, Tim Howard who will make his 250 start for the side.

Team News: Ledley King and William Gallas, are both carrying injuries, this will pave the way for Michael dawson to start along side Yones Kaboul. Tottenham will also relying on a late fitness test on Midfielder Scott Parker but unfortunatley they will sure to miss Brazillian Midfielder, Sandro from the side as he is out with a calf problem.

Everton: Everton will have to step tonight if they want to take victory as big names such as Phil Jagielka, Tim Cahill, Leon Osman, Jack Rodwell and Tony Hibbert are all injuries concerns for the toffees. However it seems likely that irish man, Seamus Coleman will miss the tie following a thigh injury against non league minnows, Tamworth on Saturday.

Manchester City v Liverpool

Just eight days after their premier league meeting in which manchester won 3 goals to nil, Manchester city and Liverpool face up against each other to contest the first leg of the carling cup semi final at eastlands tonight. Both managers will not take the game lightly as it is a great oppourtunity to gain the first silverware of the season. Manchester city will hope to get back to winning ways after the 3-2 defeat to near rivals, manchester united in the 3rd round of the fa cup dealt mancini and his side a hammer blow. Meanwhile Liverpool will hope to continue winning and attempt to follow on the 5-1 demonltion of oldham at anfield on friday night.

Team news: Manchester city are without captain, Vincent Kompany after he had his appeal on his red card against manchester united on sunday, turned down.  City are also without the charismatic striker, Mario Balotelli, as well as top midfielder, David Silva. However there is room for some optimism with the return of influential midfield, Gareth Barry.

Liverpool: Tonight will see the return of Daniel Agger, Jose Enrique, Glen Johnson and Martin Skertel to the starting 11 following their break from action against Oldham on friday night. The Captain Steven Gerrard is also expected to start the game.