The players head for the changing rooms after warm ups. It's time for those final words of wisdom. A big 180 minutes in the season for both clubs.

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Lee Houghton: Arsenal to win the league, Wenger to then retire and Pep Guardiola to take over. 

Oli Bowling: Zidane/Madrid win Champions League and Spanish league, Pep decides to move to Arsenal, Chelsea finish in top 4. 

Football Fan: Ronnie Pickering signs for Man Utd and wins golden boot firing Man Utd into Europe. LVG gets awarded for his bravery.

What do you think 2016 will deliver which no one (bar you of course) is expecting? What will be the freak moment/ story?

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It was a fairly intense laugh from the German. A belly laugh no less.

If Jurgen Klopp were a balloon he'd have burst himself at West Ham on Saturday.

His side slipped to a limp 2-0 defeat and, asked on Monday if his patience is wearing thin with some players, he said "yes, of course".

Klopp had a heart-to-heart with his players on Sunday as they attempted to get to the bottom of what went wrong.

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He tells Sky Sports he wants "more intensity". 

"We cannot say we didn't fight on Saturday," he adds. "We had two big moments where we lost complete control of the game. I'm really satisfied with the starting line-up. It's a good team. It's a very big target both teams have."

Asked about leaving Christian Benteke on the bench he says with a laugh: "I didn't put Christian Benteke on the bench, I put Adam Lallana back in the team."

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer at The Britannia Stadium

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has opted for the forward line-up that got his side such good results away to Chelsea and Manchester City here at Stoke City in the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg.

Christian Benteke is on the bench and Klopp will hope Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana can do the same sort of damage they inflicted at Stamford Bridge and The Etihad.

Liverpool's away dressing room looks a tight squeeze for modern-day squads. The Britannia of course has a habit of making sides feel uncomfortable.

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Liverpool will be desperate to score at least once tonight as away goals do count at this stage but only after extra-time in the second leg., external

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The likes of Christian Ziege and Markus Babbel were on target as Robbie Fowler slammed a hat-trick to down Stoke 8-0 in 2000.

Did you know? In eight meetings in cup competitions over the last 116 years, Liverpool have never lost to the Potters.

Image source, Reuters

If you're just joining us, a reminder of the team news.

Stoke's Geoff Cameron starts in midfield despite being sent off on Saturday, having won his appeal. The Potters are unchanged from the side which lost to West Brom 2-1.  

Stoke XI:  Butland, Johnson, Shawcross, Wollscheid, Pieters, Whelan, Cameron, Arnautovic, Afellay, Shaqiri, Bojan  

Liverpool will go with no out and out striker tonight with Christian Benteke left on the substitutes' bench. Roberto Firmino is likely to play the furthest up for the Reds, while Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana supporting him. Kolo Toure replaces Mamadou Sakho in defence.

Liverpool XI: Mignolet, Clyne, Toure, Lovren, Moreno, Lucas, Can, Allen, Coutinho, Lallana, Firmino.

BBC Radio 5 Live

German football expert Raphael Honigstein tells BBC Radio 5 live: "Zinedine Zidane knows big players want to be left alone. The whole prjection was about someone coming in and getting the players to play to their potential. Real Madrid see Zidane being their own Pep Guardiola."

Listen to BBC Radio 5 live by clicking 'live coverage' at the top of this page.

Arsenal midfielder and ex-Real Madrid player Mesut Ozil was buoyant on the news Zinedine Zidane is the new head coach at Los Blancos.

BBC Radio 5 live are currently discussing the move. More next...

What do you think 2016 will deliver which no one (bar you of course) is expecting? What will be the freak moment/ story?

We want your predictions on #bbcfootball or on the Match of the Day Facebook page., external

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Ewan 'The Roch' Lury: Fernando Torres re-signing for Chelsea and scoring 25 goals taking them up to 3rd with Arsenal finishing 4th as per usual.

Gary Grewal: Klopp will resign.

You may not have noticed we have a vote running on who will win the League Cup. Click on your choice on the right of this screen if you're on a computer or go to the 'vote' tab at the top if you're on mobile.

German football expert Raphael Honigstein tells BBC Radio 5 live about Guardiola's admission that he is coming to England:

"Guardiola was asked about the destination but he politely declined, just saying he was looking for a challenge and more restaurants. 

"You feel this is a huge pressure off his chest now. There is no one playing Guardiola football in England and this is a new challenge to him. He seemed at peace with his decision. 

"He said he hasn't committed himself to anyone. We have believed for quite a while though Manchester City are either very close or have already reached an agreement. "

Listen live now by clicking 'live coverage' at the top of this page. Live commentary from the Britannia to follow.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer at The Britannia Stadium

Images of Stoke City's famous League Cup Final win against Chelsea at Wembley in 1972 adorn the walls and corridors of The Britannia Stadium.

Now manager Mark Hughes and his rapidly developing side want to add to that single major trophy with the Capital One Cup in this two-legged semi-final against Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp is eyeing up a first trophy as Liverpool manager and will be demanding an improvement on the performance in defeat at West Ham United on Saturday that drew stinging criticism from the German.

Image source, Getty Images

The last time Stoke played a League Cup semi-final Britain was rocking out to the sound of the Slade hit 'Coz I Love You' - the UK's number one on 8 December 1971.

The Potters beat West Ham over two legs and an two extra replays before lifting the trophy with victory over Chelsea.

It remains the biggest trophy the club has won in its 153-year-history. Can this current Stoke outfit end a 45-year wait?

The last time Liverpool played at Stoke in the League Cup they didn't quite have the goalscoring problems they now face. They of course had Luis Suarez, who could do things like this...

Image source, Liverpool FC

Suarez nutmegged his man and curled a quite stunning finish in from all of 20 yards as Liverpool claimed a 2-1 win on their way to lifting the trophy in 2012.

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Stoke City fans will know only too well how their attacking wizard Bojan has pulled strings in recent weeks to score two and pick up two assists in his last four games.

Such form has led to talk of a move away, with some reports of a £10m buy-out clause, external in the former Barcelona player's contract.

"There's no clause," Stoke manager Mark Hughes told media on Monday. "There's no intention or desire from us as a club or from Bojan and his people. I think it's just a normal January story really."

You can watch Hughes speak about the issue by clicking here.

Stoke include Geoff Cameron in midfield after he won his appeal against the red card he received in defeat by West Brom on Saturday. The quirky front four of Bojan, Marko Arnautovic, Xherdan Shaqiri and Ibrahim Afellay are all included.

Liverpool will play with no recognised striker at the Britannia as Christian Benteke drops to the bench. It looks like a 'false nine' night with probably Roberto Firmino the furthest forward.

Stoke coming up soon...