Programme notesJürgen Klopp: No-one needs me to say how big a game this is

The Reds welcome Marco Silva's men to L4 in the opening meeting of the last-four tie, with the reverse fixture at Craven Cottage to follow on January 24.

Ahead of the contest on Merseyside, the boss writes: "Welcome to Anfield for the first leg of our Carabao Cup semi-final against Fulham, our last fixture before the winter break and one that I know everyone in the LFC family will be looking forward to.

"The fact that I am even able to mention a winter break is super-positive. Everyone knows my views on this topic by now, so I will not add to what I have said so many times before, but I will repeat that the potential benefits to the players are clear so now we have to make the most of it – but only after tonight.

"No-one needs me to say how big a game this is. It speaks for itself. When you are only two steps away from a final at Wembley, it makes sense to do everything that you possibly can to take them. We have done this in the past and the feeling was good – really good – so it would be nice if we could experience that feeling again.

"For that to happen, we know we will have to be absolutely on our toes for the full 180-200 minutes of the two legs. Fulham's quality is not an unknown quantity, I will say it like this, and they have shown on so many occasions that they have the tools and the know-how to give many problems.

"We did not need to find out in the way that we did to realise this but the last game we played against them told us everything that we needed to know about Fulham. The fact that we scored four worldies and were still a bit lucky in the end to win the game tells you everything.

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"I said at the time that the feeling after the game was exceptional, but we also know that during the game it was slightly different in moments when we suffered. So we have a lot of information from that game – some good, some not so good – that we can take into this one. It would definitely be helpful if we could use it.

"I would like to welcome Marco Silva, his staff and the Fulham players and supporters to Anfield in the knowledge that they will be just as keen to make it to Wembley as we are. Since we last met, Fulham have had some really good results while also qualifying for this semi-final and I am sure they will be excited by the prospect of a second leg at Craven Cottage in two weeks' time.

"The important thing for us to remember is that nothing will be settled tonight. We have enough experience of two-legged semi-finals to know that when the final whistle blows at Anfield it will still only be 'half-time' regardless of the outcome. But this is our home advantage in front of our fans so we should do whatever we can to make the most of this advantage and see where it takes us.

"Finally, I would like to say thank you to every single supporter who travelled to London on Sunday to create an away Kop at Arsenal. The noise, passion and support that came from our end from first minute to last was absolutely outstanding and you could tell how much it meant to the players by the scenes that took place after the game.

"The sacrifices that our people make to travel are never taken for granted. I know there were issues with rail travel in London on the day of the game and it was also a freezing cold day in early January with everyone still recovering from Christmas with all that this means, but our supporters still took up every seat and created an atmosphere that could only be described as special.

"We will need the same tonight so anything that you can do to give the players an extra push would be really welcome. After this game we can all have a little rest from football and then come back all the better for it, but first let us see what we can do between us once more."

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