Jurgen Klopp Discusses Liverpool's Penalty Win over Stoke, Capital One Cup Final

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insisted that his side "will win the [Capital One] Cup" no matter who they face in the final after the Reds beat Stoke City 6-5 in a penalty shootout on Tuesday to progress to the Wembley showpiece 

Despite his team scraping through after seeing the Potters cancel out Liverpool's 1-0 lead from the first leg, the German was feeling confident, with Manchester City and Everton set to compete for the second final spot, per Sky Sports:

His confidence provided a contrasting image to his state during the shootout, though, as he admitted:

According to the Liverpool Echo's Andy Kelly, he added:   

There was more than a little of Klopp's predecessor, Brendan Rodgers, in his assessment of Joe Allen, scorer of the winning penalty, per Kelly:

If Liverpool should go on to claim the trophy as he predicts, Klopp insisted it will have been thanks to a team effort, according to BBC Sport's Juliette Ferrington:

Per BBC Sport's Phil McNulty, he added, having tasted defeat in the Champions League final at Wembley Stadium with Borussia Dortmund in 2013, "Wembley is a cool place to play football...but we go there to win. It's not much fun to lose."

The manager reflected on a difficult encounter against a resilient Stoke side, according to McNulty: "It was great, the atmosphere was special. It was a good game for my side against a difficult side to play. They changed their style today. It was 'keeper Jack Butland to Peter Crouch so it was difficult to defend."

Per Kelly and Sport Witness, Klopp risked the ire of Potters fans after suggesting the new-look Stoke team reverted to a more familiar style of play:

The 48-year-old also hailed the impact of Jon Flanagan, who played 105 minutes despite only just returning from a lengthy layoff:

Liverpool will either face Everton or City on February 28, and the pair will battle it out in the second leg of their semi-final on Wednesday.

Klopp's confidence is admirable, and his bullishness ahead of the final is to be expected. But Tuesday's game in and of itself will contribute little to that, as Stoke fought hard and deserved the chance of a shootout with their 1-0 win over 120 minutes, and Liverpool still have much room for improvement at both ends.

The Reds have already shown they can beat City this season, though, while the Toffees defence has proved their undoing on many occasions already, so despite their own weaknesses, Liverpool still have a strong chance of lifting the Capital One Cup just four months after hiring Klopp.