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Liverpool sent out a clear message to Cardiff about what they like to do to Championship teams when they hammered Brighton 6-1 at the weekend.
The two sides go head to head in the Carling Cup final at Wembley on Sunday, with the Reds fired up to end a run of almost six trophy-less years.
Victory would be a sure sign that Kenny Dalglish was the right appointment when he took over from Roy Hodgson in the Anfield hot-seat last year with the brief of bringing success back to the club.
Cardiff, meanwhile head into their fourth Wembley visit in four seasons – an impressive record for a Championship club, but will be looking to overcome something of a hoodoo at the English national stadium.
Of their three previous visits, the Bluebirds have only managed one win – an FA Cup semi-final over Barnsley in 2008. Since then they have lost out to Portsmouth in the final (2008) and Blackpool in the play-off final in 2010.
Furthermore, they hardly go into the game in the best of form, having only picked up four points from their last four league games. In their last outing they were hammered 3-0 away to Ipswich.
The last meeting between these two sides was back in 2007, when they met in the same competition. That day it was Liverpool who came out on top, finishing with a 2-1 victory.
Prior to that, their previous meeting had been as far back as 1959 in the old Second Division. Cardiff completed an impressive league double over Liverpool, first winning 3-2 at Ninian Park, before heading to Anfield to complete a 4-0 romp.
Match Odds
It is perhaps unsurprising that Liverpool, the Premier League side, go into this game as clear favourites. BoyleSports make Kenny Dalglish’s men 1.40 (2/5) odds on to win the game.
Cardiff are massive outsiders at 9.00 (8/1) with Bet365, while SkyBet have it down at 4.50 (7/2) to go to extra-time.
First Goal Scorer
Luis Suarez is the 4.50 (7/2) favourite to open the scoring, while former Cardiff front man Craig Bellamy is priced at 5.00 (4/1). Andy Carroll and Steven Gerrard are each available at 7.00 (6/1), while Dirk Kuyt is 7.50 (13/2).
Cardiff’s Kenny Miller is 13.00 (12/1) to score first while Joe Mason is priced at 15.00 (14/1). Robert Earnshaw is available at the same odds, while Rudy Gestede is priced at 17.00 (16/1).
Recommended Bet
Andy Carroll has tentatively been getting back in the goals for Liverpool just lately, and this will be another great opportunity for him to get on the score sheet.
With the opposition being from the Championship, this could be the chance for him to make a real impression, and with the hat-trick being priced at 67.00 (66/1), this could well be worth a flutter.
