You can listen to full commentary of the extremely unique clash LIVE on talkSPORT, kick-off 7:45pm.
So why isn’t Jurgen Klopp playing the big guns? Well, that’s because most of them are out in the Middle East…
The Reds have double-booked, as they are competing at the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar, with their semi-final against Mexican side Monterrey on Wednesday, a game you can also listen to LIVE on talkSPORT, kick-off 5:30pm.
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LIVE on talkSPORT
Check out all the live commentaries coming up across our network this week…
- Aston Villa vs Liverpool (Tuesday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT
- Liverpool vs Monterrey (Wednesday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Everton vs Leicester (Wednesday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Manchester United vs Colchester (Wednesday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT
- Middlesbrough vs Stoke (Friday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Everton vs Arsenal (Saturday, 12:30pm) – talkSPORT
- Aston Villa vs Southampton (Saturday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Cardiff vs Preston (Saturday, 12:30pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Manchester City vs Leicester (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT
- Sheffield Wednesday vs Bristol City (Sunday, 12pm) – talkSPORT 2
Of course, an effort was made by the club to get the cup tie rescheduled but the EFL held firm, leaving Liverpool in this awkward position.
A decision was made to take Liverpool’s first-team out to Qatar so the academy players have been tasked with going to Villa Park to try and get a result.
Klopp has opted to play weakened sides earlier in the competition where they beat MK Dons and Arsenal respectively.
However, even those teams had the likes of James Milner, Dejan Lovren, Joe Gomez, Adam Lallana, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Divock Origi.
All of these guys are either injured or in Qatar so making it to the semi-finals seems a pretty tall order for Liverpool against a Villa side who appear to be taking the Carabao Cup seriously.
- Ally McCoist on why Aston Villa should field a weakened team against Liverpool
The youngest Liverpool team to ever be fielded came in January 2017 in an FA Cup tie against Plymouth – the average age of the starting XI 21 years and 296 days.
However, a 119-year record could get broken tonight in the form of their youngest ever captain.
Alex Raisbeck, who was 20 years and 250 days old when he captained them for the first time in 1900 holds the record. It’s not clear who will lead out the Reds out at Villa.
Ahead of the game, Under-23s boss Neil Critchley, who is in charge of Liverpool for this game said: “What I would say is that the mentality that is bred into the first-team players here, seeps into the academy as well, and you can’t help but get influenced by what goes on above you.
“I like to think that our young players, as they showed against Arsenal in the last round, have a similar mentality, or are developing that mentality our first-team players produce on a weekly basis.”
If Liverpool somehow manage to get through then it would demonstrate just how brilliantly things are going at the club once more.
Below you can see talkSPORT.com‘s predicted Liverpool line-up and some brief profiles about the players you may not be familiar with.