Captain Steven Gerrard and defender Martin Skrtel, rested for the weekend’s FA Cup tie against Bolton, are likely to return but it remains to be seen if striker Mario Balotelli – left out for reasons of form and attitude – features.

Provisional squad: Mignolet, Johnson, Can, Sakho, Skrtel, Manquillo, Moreno, Henderson, Allen, Enrique, Lallana, Coutinho, Sterling, Lovren, Lucas, Lambert, Borini, Rossiter, Markovic, Ward.

Meanwhile Jose Mourinho will revert to his tried and trusted first-choice players as Chelsea bid to recover from their shock FA Cup exit by advancing to the Capital One Cup final at the expense of Liverpool.

Captain John Terry, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Branislav Ivanovic, Nemanja Matic, Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard and Willian are all poised to return to the starting line-up for the semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge after the 4-2 loss to League One Bradford.

John Obi Mikel (head) and Andre Schurrle (back) are doubts, but neither are likely to be involved from the start as the Blues aim to respond immediately to their embarrassing exit to the Bantams.

Provisional squad: Courtois, Cech, Ivanovic, Luis, Fabregas, Zouma, Ake, Ramires, Oscar, Hazard, Drogba, Mikel, Schurrle, Salah, Remy, Costa, Matic, Willian, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta.