Mark Hughes has called on Stoke City to replicate the performance they put in at Anfield in the League Cup in January, ahead of his side’s Premier League trip to the ground on Sunday.
Marko Arnautovic’s strike in the League Cup semi-final second leg earned the Potters their first victory over the Reds at Anfield in over half a century.
But the night ended in despair for the visitors as Liverpool progressed to the final by winning the penalty shootout; Jurgen Klopp’s team carried a 1-0 lead to the second leg.
And Hughes, who is relishing the test of facing Liverpool in their own backyard, urged Stoke to put in a performance similar to that in January to come out of Anfield with a positive result.
“I think everybody remembers the performance that we produced last time we went there”, he told Stoke City Player.
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“We will need another similar performance if we are to get another positive result because they are a good team with very good players.
“We managed to produce a special performance last time round, especially given the circumstances of the fixture, so why can’t we do that again this weekend.
“We want to replicate that level of performance or even surpass it, because we always try to better ourselves each and every time we step foot on the field.
“Sometimes we will come up short, but that won’t stop us from striving to get better.
“It will be a real test for us but it certainly isn’t something that we should be apprehensive about.”
Stoke lost the corresponding Premier League fixture against Liverpool 1-0 at the Britannia Stadium in August and have lost on their last two league visits to Anfield.
