22 hours ago
12 
Photo by Nikki Dyer - LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool play the first leg of their League Cup semi-final against Tottenham on Wednesday.
Given the overload fixture list faced down by top clubs in England, with a full league slate supplemented by European competition and a pair of domestic cups, the League Cup can at times feel one front too many for squads looking to avoid being stretched thin.
It might not be entirely unfair to cast it as a competition where if the best result is winning the whole thing, the second best is being knocked out at the first time of asking. And with Liverpool now into the semi-final, a two-legged affair with Tottenham this year’s opponents, it’s fair to say they’re at the stage where they need to try to win it.
“The team is clear that we want to win everything,” said left back Kostas Tsimikas ahead of Wednesday’s cup tie. From the start of the season we set our goals so now the only thing we have to do is to go there, play our football, and win the game.”
“It’s a very hard opponent to play against, but this team has showed many, many times that we are 100% focused. I think we have to win both games if we want to be [in the final] at Wembley. I think they have very talented players and play good football. Everybody is excited for this challenge: we have to win the two games.”
Winning both legs might not be the only way to advance, of course, but it would certainly make matters more straightforward for Tsimikas and his teammates. And with an FA Cup tie against Accrington Stanley up next on the weekend, it’s clear this week’s big game is Spurs in the League Cup.
“You are two games away from the final,” Tsimikas added of Wednesday League Cup match. “I think everybody who plays football, the aim is to win matches and win trophies. I think for everybody in this club, always we want to win every single trophy we have ahead.
“The only thing we have to do now is play good football and win games. Always we want to win trophies.”
