Bournemouth: Boruc, Francis, Elphick, Cargill, Smith, Ritchie, Gosling, O'Kane, Stanislas, Wilson, Kermorgant. Subs: Camp, Cook, Arter, Pitman, Daniels, MacDonald, Fraser.

Liverpool: Brad Jones, Toure, Skrtel, Lovren, Henderson, Gerrard, Lucas, Markovic, Coutinho, Lallana, Sterling. Subs: Lambert, Sakho, Moreno, Manquillo, Mignolet, Can, Borini.

Tottenham: Vorm, Chiriches, Fazio, Vertonghen, Rose; Bentaleb, Stambouli; Chadli, Eriksen, Townsend; Kane. Subs: Lloris, Kaboul, Naughton, Capoue, Dembele, Lamela, Soldado.

Newcastle: Alnwick; Dummett, Coloccini, Williamson, Haidara; Colback, Sissoko; Perez, Cabella, Gouffran; Riviere. Subs: Woodman, Satka, Streete, Anita, Roberts, Vuckic, Armstrong.

Jermaine Jenas
Former England midfielder at White Hart Lane for 5 live sports extra

"Spurs' is the stronger team, but their strong squad hasn't put performances together this season, particularly at White Hart Lane. To be honest, when it comes to Newcastle, Alan Pardew's hands are somewhat tied due to injuries.

"When I was at Tottenham, Harry Kane was always a player who would be constantly knocking on the door, even as a kid, always scoring goals in the youth team and the reserves. So what I'm seeing now from him is not a surprise, but he's strong, fitter, and he's scoring a surprising amount of goals. He's a young Englishman, and that's fantastic for both his club and country."

Looks like Lazar Markovic will play at left wing-back this evening for Liverpool. The £20m signing has bags of pace and attacking intent but can he hold the defensive shape too?

Bournemouth may target that side.

Goonerama:, external Signing of the year? Cesc Fabregas, the reason Chelsea will win the Premier Legaue. Game? Obviously is Brazil 1-7 Germany for the pure 'what the?!' factor!

Carl Taylor:, external The best game? Palace 3-3 Liverpool - pure football drama.

Akhil Sakaria:, external The best signing was Fabregas for Chelsea. The best game was Leicester 5-3 Man Utd.

Image source, PA

Liverpool need striker Daniel Sturridge back fit, fast, but the former Chelsea man will spend Christmas in Boston in a bid to speed up his return from injury.

The 25-year-old has already spent time in Los Angeles working on his thigh injury and will now link up with medical specialists at baseball team Boston Red Sox.

He has played only three league games this season and is not expected to return to action for several weeks yet.

Sounds like a nice trip to me...

Tony Pulis
Former Stoke manager at Dean Court for 5 live Sport

"I saw the last League Cup game against West Brom and Eddie Howe made plenty of changes for that game. So I'm not surprised. The players who have come in should slot in nice and comfortably, just as they did against West Brom.

"Liverpool are under a lot of pressure to win this game tonight. And they have some great players on the pitch - Bournemouth will have to be right on it. There's a feeling about the place that this will be Bournemouth's night, but they need to set themselves out so that they will be difficult to beat.

"Liverpool desperately need a result. It will give them a little bit of confidence, steady the ship, and then Brendan Rodgers can take a view in January. Confidence has such a big part to play. This game is all about winning, and at a club like Liverpool you have to win matches. Brendan has spent a lot of money. He needs to stand firm, be strong, and hope and pray he can get a few results."

Jermaine Jenas
Former England midfielder at White Hart Lane for 5 live sports extra

"Liverpool are obviously having a lot of problems. They keep toying with three at the back, then four - all that tells you is that Brendna Rodgers is unsure how best to defend. And they are just leaking confidence.

"Even the attacking players can't attack with freedom because they are worried about the team at the back. It all has an influence, and they are struggling as a whole team rather than just as a defensive unit."

Liverpool in the market for a goalkeeper then? Who is available? Tricky position to fill in January...

Gary Lineker
BBC Sport

"Looking forward to seeing Liverpool's new 3-7 formation."

So Worcester City's Nathan Vaughan gets the day off work (see 18:54 entry) and takes his place in goal in what is an unchanged starting XI from the side that drew 1-1 at Scunthorpe in the first match. Sean Geddes, of the 'rabona' fame (19:03 entry), also plays.

Scunthorpe United make two changes with Andrew Boyce and ex-Aston Villa midfielder Isaiah Osbourne coming in for Terry Hawkridge and Billy Kee.

Worcester: Vaughan, Williams, Weir, Hutchison, Thomas, Gater, Nti, Deeney, Symons, Geddes, Murphy. Subs: Jackman, Wright, Taylor, Dunkley, Rowe, Khan, Veiga.

Scunthorpe: Slocombe, Boyce, Davey, Llera, Williams, McAllister, Bishop, McSheffrey, Madden, Osbourne, Taylor. Subs: Sparrow, Hawkridge, Adelakun, Canavan, Olejnik, Wootton, Brisley.

Alan Green
commentator at Dean Court for 5 live Sport

"Liverpool badly need a goalkeeper. There are many people at Liverpool who looked at Simon Mignolet when he arrived and said he was a good shot-stopper, but he doesn't command his penalty area and he is not a sweeper keeper, despite how Brendan Rodgers wants him to play.

"So I'm not convinced that any Liverpool defence has any confidence in the man behind them. And Brad Jones isn't the solution. So in January Rodgers badly needs to address the goalkeeping positions."

Nobody will be surprised to learn that Tony...

You wouldn't expect Pulis to be out of work for much longer. Is he first in the queue for a vacancy?

Tony Pulis
Former Stoke manager at Dean Court for 5 live Sport

"When we came back from three down against Liverpool last season at Crystal Palace, we knew Luis Suarez was the best player in the league. Liverpool had an outstanding front three. But they were very, very vulnerable then defensively, and we always felt we would get chances to score in that game.

"The knives are out for Brendan Rodgers - the one thing I would say is that he still hasn't sorted that problematic defence out, despite spending lots of money. And he knew without Suarez his team wouldn't score as many goals. So Liverpool should be looking a lot stronger, a lot tighter, and should be looking to keep more clean sheets.

"Personally, I enjoy working in a defensive shape as much as the play going forward."

But Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has dismissed talk of dressing room unrest at Anfield.

The Reds are 11th in the table and out of the Champions League, but Rodgers insists his players remain united.

"I hear one or two bits and pieces about unrest and it is totally untrue," said the Northern Irishman. "Our dressing room is very strong.

"These are competitive players who nearly won the league last year, so they won't be happy with losing.

"But the actual spirit in the group is very strong. That is one of the reasons why, when we get that confidence back, then we will go into the second half of the season and be much better."

BBC Radio 5 live

5 live Sport are advertising how they are covering Liverpool's next two games, what they describe as Rodgers' last-chance saloon:, external

Image source, @bbc5live

BBC Sport's Nabil Hassan at Dean Court

"It's a grey, miserable evening here but with both sets of players now warming up on the pitch the atmosphere is building nicely at a sold out Dean Court. I was at the FA Cup tie here in January and there's a different expectancy tonight.

"That match had the feeling of underdog versus football giant (David v Goliath) but with Cherries topping the Championship there's a real air of expectation that something special might be about to happen."

Heavy rain falling at both of our League Cup games as the players go through their paces. Looks like a cold night for all in store. Get on the mulled wine.

Former Leicester and Wales midfielder Robbie Savage

Image source, Getty Images

"I'd try and get as much money as you can for Mario Balotelli in the January transfer window.

"His goalscoring record for AC Milan and everywhere he's been has been OK, so, for £16m, he was worth taking a chance on. But I don't think he's done anything.

"But I'm a big fan of Brendan Rodgers. He can improve teams and players, as he's shown. He's been a little bit unlucky as some of his signings haven't worked out."