League Cup action resumes with fourth round action on Wednesday as Liverpool face AFC Bournemouth at Anfield. It will be Jürgen Klopp's third home game in a row, and he'll be hoping third time's a charm and he can finally get that first victory as new manager. So far his team has only snagged three points and two goals in their first three games. There is a necessary bedding in period for any new manager, added to the fact that Klopp has been forced to work with a depleted strike force. His first three options up front have all been injured, leaving only Divock Origi to lead the line for most of his start. Still, everyone is eager to see Liverpool grab a victory, and Wednesday's match -- which can't end in a draw -- would be a great place to start.
Liverpool already faced AFC Bournemouth at home in the league this season. They squeaked through that game with a 1-0 victory thanks to two dodgy decisions by the referee: first to incorrectly call off one of Bournemouth's goals, then to allow a Benteke goal to stand despite an obviously offside Coutinho disrupting play. The newly-promoted team will be looking for revenge over the points that were snatched from them in August. Since that game, Bournemouth's luck hasn't changed much, and they currently sit 17th in the league, having lost consecutive games to both Manchester City and Tottenham by whopping 5-1 score lines. At the moment, Bournemouth's 22 goals conceded have them tied with Newcastle for the league's leakiest defense.
This will be the third time that Liverpool and Bournemouth will have met in the Capital One Cup in the last three seasons. Liverpool came out victorious on both previous occasions. Most recently, they played out a 3-1 quarterfinal game in Bournemouth.The Reds will look to eliminate the Cherries for a third consecutive season when they play on Wednesday.
Both teams eked through the third round last month after winning on penalties to lower league opposition. Liverpool managed their customary 1-1 against League 2 side Carlisle United before putting it away on penalties. For Bournemouth, it was Championship side Preston North End who they needed penalties to eliminate after a 2-2 draw at the end of regulation.
Eddie Howe will likely start a strong XI to try and take advantage of Liverpool's fragility and mount a confidence-boosting deep cup run to buoy spirits in the wake of their poor league form.
For Liverpool:
Mignolet
Clyne/ Škrtel/ Sakho/ Moreno
Allen/ Can
Ibe/ Firmino/ Lallana
Origi
James Milner is suspended for this game due to receiving his fifth yellow card against Southampton, but Roberto Firmino should be ready to take his place after coming on as a substitute in the last two games. Coutinho may get a break to regain some of his mojo after another underwhelming performance on Sunday. He is a player known to fall into bad patches during the course of a season, and a bit of rest right now might do him well. While Benteke may be prepared to start, it seems likely that Origi will keep his spot for one more game in order to preserve the fitness of Liverpool's only available senior striker.
In addition to the suspended James Milner, Liverpool will also be missing the services of captain Jordan Henderson, Daniel Sturridge -- whose unknown knee injury looks to be progressing from "1-2 days out" to "full Sturridge" right on schedule -- Jordan Rossiter, Danny Ings, Joe Gomez, and the erstwhile Jon Flanagan.
Kickoff is set for 7:45PM BST/3:45PM EST Wednesday. Television coverage will be on Sky Sports in the UK and BeIN Sports Connect USA for the US. Elsewhere, BeIN Sports Australia in Australia, TEN Sports in India, and SuperSport 5 Africa in Kenya are carrying the match. You can find other listings at LiveSoccerTV. For Online radio, fans worldwide can check out LFCTV GO.
We'll be keeping you updated with all the buildup to the game, including team news as it's released, our live matchday thread and post-match recaps from The Liverpool Offside staff. If you want to join the discussion, sign up for an SB Nation account to have your say on all the action as it happens.