A potential Manchester United vs Liverpool final awaits as the Premier League heavyweights prepare for their respective EFL Cup semifinals this week. After a round of FA Cup action, both Manchester United and Liverpool will hope to put their ties to bed in the first leg.
Manchester United begin the action with a home first leg against fellow Premier League side Hull City. Jose Mourinho's side have been in top form of late, winning eight matches in a row in all competitions and with this game being at Old Trafford, they will target a big victory, which could then make the second leg academic.
Hull are bottom of the Premier League at the moment, with the club recently sacking manager Mike Phelan, a former Manchester United assistant, and replacing him with Marco Silva. The Portuguese started his stint as Hull City head coach with an FA Cup victory over fellow Premier League strugglers Swansea City on Saturday and Silva will hope to take that momentum into this FA Cup semifinal tie.
Manchester United, though, are in prime form and they made it eight wins in a row with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Reading in the third round of the FA Cup. With the defence looking strong and the attack finding its rhythm, Mourinho's side look set to make it nine consecutive wins.
Wins have not come by for Liverpool of late, with Jurgen Klopp's side only managing to draw their last two matches – one each in the Premier League and FA Cup. After four consecutive wins, Liverpool's momentum has been halted and Klopp will be keen to get his side back to winning ways.
Liverpool will travel to Southampton for the first leg on Wednesday. The Saints were quite impressive in their EFL Cup quarterfinal win over Arsenal, and with Claude Puel's team looking like finishing around mid-table in the Premier League, they are likely to go all guns blazing to try and win a trophy this season.
The best chance of that happening is in the EFL Cup and Southampton are likely to go with a strong team in a bid to go into the Anfield leg with a strong advantage.
Klopp named a young side in the FA Cup goalless draw against Plymouth Argyle, but the German might shift to a more established outfit for this EFL Cup semifinal.
EFL Cup schedule: Semifinals first leg.
Tuesday, January 10: Manchester United vs Hull City.
Time: 8pm GMT, 3pm ET, 1.30am IST (next day).
Venue: Old Trafford.
Wednesday, January 11: Southampton vs Liverpool.
Time: 7.45pm GMT, 2.45pm ET, 1.15am IST (next day).
Venue: St. Mary's.
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