[ANDYSIAO14]

READING V LIVERPOOL: STAT ATTACK

Here are all the stats and facts ahead of tonight's Carling Cup third round clash with Reading.

Liverpool's League Cup record: Pld 197 Won 117 Drawn 42 Lost 38 Goals For 401 Against 183.

Liverpool have won this trophy on a record seven occasions, the last being in 2003.

They have also appeared in the most Finals-ten.

The Reds have been involved in four penalty shoot-outs in this competition.

In the first they lost away to Wimbledon in 1993. Since then they have won against Birmingham in the Final in 2001, at Anfield against Ipswich in 2002 and in 2004 they overcame Tottenham at White Hart Lane.

Last season, Liverpool progressed to the last eight before losing 6-3 at home to Arsenal.


Earlier in the 2006-07 campaign, the two sides met for the first time in their history in any competition with Liverpool winning 4-3 at Anfield in Round Three. They led 3-0 through Robbie Fowler, John Arne Riise and Gabriel Paletta. Andre Bikey and Peter Crouch then made it 4-1 before Leroy Lita (81 mins) and Shane Long (84) made Liverpool sweat for the win. The last four goals of the game came in eight minutes.

The Reds then beat Birmingham 1-0 at St Andrews in Round Four thanks to a Daniel Agger goal.

Liverpool also met the Royals twice in the league last season winning 2-0 at Anfield (Dirk Kuyt 2) before completing a Premiership ‘double' 2-1 at the Madejski with Kuyt scoring an 86th minute winner after Brynjar Gunnarsson had equalised Alvaro Arbeloa's first goal for the Reds.

There have been 13 hat-tricks scored by Liverpool players in this competition with the last being scored by Robbie Fowler at Stoke in November 2000.

Julio Baptista playing for Arsenal last season, when scoring four times at Anfield became the first opposing player ever to score a hat-trick against Liverpool in the League Cup.

Liverpool have never conceded a hat-trick away from home in this competition.

The last Liverpool player sent off in this competition was Emile Heskey back in 2001 against Chelsea at Anfield.

Only Steven Gerrard of the current squad with six, has scored more than twice in the League Cup for the Reds.

Alvaro Arbeloa, who is the only outfield player to play in every minute of Liverpool's season so far, scored his only goal for the Reds on this ground last April.

It is almost ten years since the Reds last failed to score in a League Cup tie (at Middlesbrough in 1998). Since then they have found the net in 30 successive League Cup games.