Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal believes that Stoke City are in good form, remarking that his side's opponents this evening deserved to reach the League Cup final and not Liverpool.
Van Gaal's men go into the match in high spirits following a win against Derby County. The Red Devils were impressive against the Championship side as they managed to overpower Paul Clement's side 3-1 in the FA Cup at Pride Park on Friday night.
However, consistency has always remained a problem for Van Gaal's side and the Dutch manager knows that the performance in the FA Cup won't matter if they can't do well against Stoke City.
The Dutch manager is wary of Mark Hughes' team and, having watched their League Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool, feels Stoke and not the Reds should have reached the final at Wembley; Liverpool progressed on penalties.
"I hope that we can give the same level of performance as against Derby", Van Gaal said at a press conference, via his club's site.
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"Stoke City are a team that every club has a lot of difficulties with.
"I saw them play against Liverpool and thought they were very good – they deserved to go through.
"I have to say that I like how Stoke play, very much."
Van Gaal also took time to express his delight at having seen Michael Carrick return to first-team action.
“He could only play 20 minutes against Derby and I wanted to give him that 20 minutes because we need him playing regularly again.
"He did very well and I have no complaints.”
