Lukaku wary of wounded Reds

West Brom’s on-loan striker Romelu Lukaku has warned his team-mates to be on their guard against a Liverpool backlash in Wednesday’s Capital One Cup clash at the Hawthorns (West Brom 17/10, Liverpool 6/4, draw 12/5 Match Prices with bet365).

The two clubs have enjoyed differing fortunes in the early part of the season, with the Baggies currently in the top four, while the Reds have take just two points from their first five Premier League games and have only QPR and Reading below them in the standings (Liverpool 13/2 Top 4 Finish with bet365).

The west Midlanders have themselves contributed to the Anfield woes as they dealt out a 3-0 beating to Brendan Rodgers men on the opening day of the campaign, with Lukaku scoring one of the goals in his first league match for his adopted club after making the switch from Chelsea.

Despite the current malaise on Merseyside, Rodgers has urged the fans not to panic and feels they are not too far away from turning things around, and Lukaku believes that they will be eager to set the record straight as defending champions in the competition.

“To beat them in the league was a big achievement for us but we know Liverpool will want revenge,” he said. “We have to be ready. It’s going well for us now and we just have to keep both our feet on the ground.”

It is highly unlikely that Rodgers will play a full-strength side but it could contain one or two of the top stars, as he will be desperate to come away with a win and lessen the pressure on himself and his misfiring players.

O’Neill inspired by Wembley run

Martin O’Neill has promised Sunderland will give Capital One Cup visitors Morecambe the respect they merit when they make the trip to the Stadium of Light on Tuesday (Sunderland 2/9 draw 11/2 Morecambe 10/1 – 90 minutes bet365).

The Northern Irishman saw his weekend preparations hit by a deluge of heavy rain which led to the cancellation of the visit of Reading in the Premier League.

He had hoped to start new signings Adam Johnson and Steven Fletcher but the inclement weather on Wearside led to a switch in focus and the chance to dream of a run to Wembley.

O’Neill said: “The cup-tie is very important for us.

“We had a taste for the cup last year and the atmosphere that night against Everton in the FA Cup replay was extraordinary, and showed just what it means to the people here.”

He added: “We would love to do well. We have a home tie and really want to make the most of it.

“We just want to give it a real go and show people what we want to do.”

Wes Brown (knee ligaments), Phil Bardsley and David Vaughan (both ankle) will all miss the visit of Jim Bentley’s League Two Shrimps (16/1 to be promoted League Two – bet365).

Dalglish cagey ahead of Carling Cup final

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish wants his players to take the Carling Cup final against Cardiff City on Sunday in their stride as the Reds bid to win some long overdue silverware (Liverpool 1/6 To Win Carling Cup with bet365).

The Anfield outfit has not lifted a trophy since the FA Cup in 2006 while they have also infamously abjectly failed to win the Premier League since its inception in 1992.

So it could be argued the pressure is well and truly on Liverpool, however Dalglish is preferring to keep his feet on the ground ahead of the Wembley Stadium shoot-out.

The Scot said: “It’s not necessarily more pressure. There is always going to have to be a favourite but you only get out of the match what you put in.

“Favourites have lost before, although not too often, but we have to overcome Cardiff on the day.

“We will go there best prepared and see what happens. We won’t jump ahead. We’ve got the final, which is one step, now let’s see what we do when we get there.

“We will try to be as normal and as well prepared as we possibly can and make sure we get all the other things in the right order.”

Liverpool are also involved in the latter stages of the FA Cup and can be backed at 12/5 – along with co-favourites Tottenham – to lift the most famous trophy of them all.

Whittingham hoping for third time lucky

Cardiff City midfielder Peter Whittingham insists that all the pressure is on Liverpool ahead of the Carling Cup final on Sunday (Liverpool 1/6, Cardiff 9/2 To Win Outright with bet365) and is looking to ‘put things right’ following the Bluebirds’ recent Wembley heartache.

The 27-year-old is in his sixth season with the Bluebirds and has endured double disappointment at Wembley in recent times, losing the 2008 FA Cup final to Portsmouth before suffering the agony of a Championship play-off final defeat to Blackpool in 2010.

Whittingham is keen to make it third time lucky with the Bluebirds and is bullish over the side’s chances despite Liverpool being strong 4/11 favourites with bet365 to win in 90 minutes.

“Going to Wembley has not been too nice to us, obviously we lost to Blackpool in the play-off final so this is a good time to put things right and it’s something we think we can do,” Whittingham said.

“After all the hype it is good that the game is coming up and we want to do ourselves proud. It’s a one-off game, league form goes out the window, it’s a welcome distraction and we go to Wembley with not so much pressure on us to try and do well,” he said.

“We have to ride our luck, they will have chances but when we have ours we have to take them.

“We can’t be in awe of the occasion, Liverpool are a massive club and have some great players but we have confidence in ourselves.”

Malky Mackay has been boosted by the return to fitness of goalkeeper Tom Heaton, although skipper Mark Hudson remains doubtful with a calf injury and Stephen McPhail has been suffering with an immune system disorder.

Downing not down on Reds start

Liverpool (3/1 Premier League top four finish – bet365) winger Stewart Downing has insisted he is starting to settle at Anfield following an indifferent start to his time on Merseyside.

The England international joined the Reds from fellow Premier League outfit Aston Villa and has struggled to find a consistent level of performance in the North West.

Having joined the club for £20m, manager Kenny Dalglish has stuck with the 27-year-old and Downing is starting to establish a regular place in the staring XI in recent weeks.

Downing will be hoping for a starting role in Liverpool’s Carling Cup final clash with Cardiff City on Sunday, with the Reds going in search of their first piece of silverware in six years  (Cardiff 8/1, draw 7/2, Liverpool 4/11 – bet365).

The former Middlesbrough star has admitted to a slow start at Anfield but is looking forward to improving and taking part in the final at Wembley.

He said: “There is a lot more pressure here – but not as big as it has been. You are under the microscope every day, people are pointing but that is Liverpool,  that is why you want to be here.

“You have got to blank that out. It is challenging every week, it pushes you on as a player – to play in finals.”

Bellamy ready for “strange” final

Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy admits he will have mixed feelings if he takes to the pitch to face Cardiff in Sunday’s Carling Cup final (Cardiff 8/1, Liverpool 4/11, draw 7/2 Match Prices with bet365).

The 32-year-old is in line to face his home-town club at Wembley this weekend as he looks to secure his first major trophy in English football.

The Wales international hit-man spent last season on loan with the Bluebirds after falling down the pecking order at Manchester City and he scored 11 goals from 35 Championship appearances for the club.

Kenny Dalglish opted to bring the former Newcastle star back to Anfield for a second a spell and he may well hand the diminutive frontman a starting berth in north London.

Bellamy has never faced the club he supported as a boy and has made it clear that he would rather have faced anyone else than his former team-mates.

“It is a strange situation,” he said. “I’ve never played against them and it is not something I’ve really looked forward to doing to be honest.”

The much-travelled striker has had an injection to try and help his chronic back problem but expects to be fit for the match and he insists that he will not celebrate if he does manage to find the back of the net against the capital club (Bellamy 11/10 To Score Anytime with bet365).

“I certainly have no aspirations of doing that but I’ve got to be on the pitch first,” he added.

Gerrard urges Reds to attack

Steven Gerrard insists that Liverpool will be going all out to beat Manchester City in Wednesday’s Carling Cup semi-final second-leg clash and will not just sit on their one-goal lead (Liverpool 8/5, City 13/8, draw 12/5 Match Prices with bet365).

Gerrard’s 13th-minute penalty separated the sides at the Etihad Stadium and they head into the midweek encounter at Anfield knowing that a clean sheet will see them into the Wembley showpiece to face Cardiff City.

Reds boss Kenny Dalglish set his side up with defence in mind for the Eastlands clash and, following the goal, it was all hands to the pump to prevent City from scoring and hanging on to their precious lead.

Liverpool have not enjoyed much success in their home matches in the Premier League this term and, while they remain unbeaten on Merseyside, they have won only four times on their own patch.

It would be easy for Dalglish to adopt similar tactics this time around to try and sneak into the final, but Gerrard feels it would be folly to go into the match looking for a 0-0 and has urged his team-mates to set out to win the game (0-0 Scoreline 9/1 with bet365).

“We need very player to turn up and play well to qualify,” he told the club’s official website. “We need to ignore the scoreline and need to go into the game trying to win it.

“I think if we’re too negative and try to just protect the lead it could be very dangerous.”

Freedman goes for the jugular

Crystal Palace manager Dougie Freedman continues to play mind games ahead of Tuesday’s Carling Cup semi-final second-leg clash with Cardiff, calling the opposition “nearly men” (Cardiff 4/6, Palace 9/2, draw 13/5 – Match Prices with bet365).

The two sides will meet at the Cardiff City Stadium with the Londoners holding a 1-0 advantage courtesy of Anthony Gardner’s first-half strike at Selhurst Park.

But the Welsh side will fancy their chances as they have already won nine times at home in the Championship this term, while Palace have lost eight games on their travels.

Cup football often sees the form book thrown out of the widow and the Palace fans will hope that it the case this week as they lost 2-1 to Blackpool on Saturday, while Cardiff were 3-2 victors over Portsmouth.

The manager has been trying to help out his side in the past few days by getting under the skin of the opposition by saying they are “scared stiff” of failure, words that prompted counterpart Malkay Mackay to thank him for “doing the team talk for him”.

But far from being put off by the the Scot’s response, Freedman has upped the ante by heaping even more pressure on the home side’s stars by dragging up the past in what could be a tight affair in the Welsh capital (11/1 – Penalty Shoot-Out).

“I think they are under more pressure to succeed. Maybe not in this competition, but with the money they have spent this season,” he said.

“Their fans expect to succeed, they are a passionate crowd and one that has nearly got there. In the play-off games they have always been a nearly team, nearly getting there.”

Bellamy excited by Wembley dream

Craig Bellamy has said Liverpool are ready to inflict more misery on his old club Manchester City ahead of the Carling Cup semi-final first-leg at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday (Manchester City 10/11 draw 12/5 Liverpool 16/5 – bet365 match prices).

The Premier League leaders were dethroned in the FA Cup by local rivals Manchester United on Sunday and must dust themselves down for another chance of reaching Wembley.

Roberto Mancini’s men have recent history over Liverpool, having beaten them 3-0 in the league only last week, but Bellamy says the players are determined to put right that defeat and deny the big-spenders another trophy.

“This is why you play for Liverpool and this is what it brings,” said the 32-year-old, who could start after starring in last Friday’s 5-1 demolition of Oldham in the FA Cup.

“It’s a two-legged match and we have to make sure we are still in the tie. We have the second leg at Anfield and this club knows all about two-legged games. If we can get it back to Anfield still very much in the tie we will have a great chance of getting to Wembley.”

Bellamy added: “This club is used to getting to semi-finals and finals and all we can do is give it our best and see where it takes us.”

Bellamy said he and his team-mates were still feeling the disappointment of the league defeat and were determined to prove they can mix it with the big-boys (Liverpool 13/8 – Carling Cup outright – bet365).

The Wales international added: “I didn’t believe the 3-0 scoreline last week was quite correct and this is not just me with my Liverpool head on. We had 66% of possession which is a lot for an away side, especially against a team of Man City’s calibre.”

Cardiff out to storm the Palace

Crystal Palace and Cardiff City are both set to make changes for the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final clash at Selhurst Park on Tuesday night following weekend defeats in the FA Cup (Crystal Palace 7/4, draw 9/4, Cardiff 8/5 – Full-Time Result with bet365).

The Eagles and the Bluebirds went down to Derby County and West Brom respectively and now their attention switches to more cup action and a potential Carling Cup final appearance against either Manchester City (5/6f – Carling Cup Outright with bet365) or Liverpool.

But Palace have been hit by a bug and boss Dougie Freedman will give his unnamed first-team regulars affected as long as possible to recover, having made changes for the Rams loss.

Cardiff made ten changes at the weekend and boss Malky Mackay will revert back to his strongest line-up, with defender Kevin Naughton now fit after three games out with calf trouble.

Goalkeeper David Marshall, defenders Mark Hudson and Ben Turner and striker Kenny Miller are among those players likely to face the Eagles.

Cardiff beat Palace 2-0 at Cardiff City Stadium in the league meeting between the two sides in November, with the Championship return game due to take place on the final day of the season.

The Carling Cup semi-final second leg takes place in Cardiff on Tuesday, January 24.