Dream of Wembley but respect Fulham: Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders

LONDON – Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders has called on his players to “dream” of Wembley, as they prepare for the first leg of their League Cup semi-final against Fulham at Anfield on Jan 10.

The Reds head into the match on the back of a morale-boosting

2-0 win over Arsenal in the third round of the FA Cup,

while the Cottagers overcame Rotherham United 1-0 to also reach the fourth round.

Another Cup competition beckons, and Lijnders has urged his men to go all the way.

“We all dreamt when we were young about iconic stadiums and Wembley is one of them,” said the Dutchman, who was on media duty in place of manager Jurgen Klopp.

“We made memories there already. It’s the closest final we can reach but we all respect Fulham, they have good offensive ideas and are really creative.

“(Raul) Jimenez is back to his old quality (like he was) at Wolves, a real focal point. If you let them play they create problems, saw that with West Ham, Forest, Arsenal.

“They do the simple things really good, Marco Silva does a top job.”

Liverpool are again fighting on multiple fronts in hopes of winning the quadruple this season. Besides the League Cup and the FA Cup, they are leading the English Premier League by three points, ahead of Aston Villa.

The Reds also stand a good chance of winning the Europa League, but first their attention will be on the League Cup.

Klopp’s men, who have won this competition nine times, are in the last four for a record 19th time. In their eight previous semi-final first legs at Anfield, they have never been defeated.

Liverpool failed to keep a clean sheet in their wins over Leicester City, Bournemouth and West Ham United in the earlier rounds, and Fulham boss Silva would have taken note of that potential weakness.

However, the hosts will still be favourites – the win over Arsenal stretched their unbeaten run in all competitions to six and, crucially, Liverpool have not lost in 22 games at Anfield.

Klopp can also be confident as his side have won all five of their previous League Cup encounters with Fulham. It was not too long ago that they scored two late goals to clinch a 4-3 league win over the Cottagers.

Wataru Endo scored the equaliser then but he will sit out both legs of the semi-final due to his commitments with Japan at the Asian Cup. Mohamed Salah has also joined Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Lijnders also confirmed that Trent Alexander-Arnold will be sidelined for “probably three weeks” with a knee issue.

Dominik Szoboszlai, Andy Robertson, Kostas Tsimikas, Stefan Bajcetic, Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip are still out as well.

“You just look to the next game,” added Lijnders. “It sounds like a cliche but we just prepare, see who is available and then make a line-up to go.

“We have many weapons, Mo goes away, (Diogo) Jota steps up. If the best players aren’t there and we play well – like the second half against Arsenal – that is a good sign. We don’t rely on one or two... this squad has so much talent.”

As for Fulham, the game will be their first semi-final in the competition. They went as far as the quarter-finals in 1968, 1971, 2001 and 2005.

However, not since 2012-13 has a first-time semi-finalist progressed to the final. That season, Swansea City made history by also beating Bradford City in the decider.

“We have huge respect for Liverpool and the quality they have, the season they have had, they are top of the league, said Silva.

“They showed against Arsenal how they can be strong... they have the quality.

“In December we had a great game against them, but we didn’t get the result we probably deserved.”

Fulham will be without Nigerian duo Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi and Senegal’s Fode Ballo-Toure, who are all preparing for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Adama Traore and Tim Ream, meanwhile, are still struggling with injuries and should miss the match.