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Liverpool have booked their first trip to Wembley since 1996 and after waiting that long they will enjoy the opportunity to see how much the old place has changed. Kenny Dalglish’s team deserve their place at Manchester City’s expense after being the better team in both legs, culminating in Craig Bellamy’s decisive goal against his former club.

Bellamy’s time in Manchester ended acrimoniously and he will have relished making his point to Roberto Mancini, the manager who ostracised and sold him. The striker can look forward to a final against Cardiff City, the club where he pitched up last season, and Liverpool will be strong favourites to win their first trophy of Dalglish’s second spell as manager.

This was an experimental line-up on Mancini’s part, abandoning the 4‑2‑3‑1 system that has helped them establish a position of strength at the top of the Premier League. Instead, the Italian had lined up a three‑man defence for the first time this season, with Aleksandar Kolarov and Pablo Zabaleta moving forward from their usual full-back positions to operate as wingers. In the end, it lasted only until half‑time before the Manchester City manager accepted he had got it wrong and reverted to his usual formation.

The idea was undoubtedly to protect Stefan Savic, the promising but raw centre-half whose previous performances deputising for the suspended Vincent Kompany had identified him as potentially vulnerable. It was a strange time to experiment and after playing so long with a set formation it was probably only inevitable there would be times when they lacked their usual solidity in defence. Savic was the man to make way at the interval and Mancini will be relieved when Kompany is back.

Liverpool began the game with drive and purpose. They seemed determined to get the 3-1 defeat at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday out of their system, playing with far greater tempo, quicker to the ball and more decisive in possession. José Enrique ought to have scored after only four minutes after Kolarov’s miscued clearance and, when his shot was blocked by Joe Hart’s legs, Stewart Downing’s follow-up effort smacked of a player with sapped confidence.

Too many times this season Liverpool’s wastefulness in front of goal has been a factor in their Anfield performances and their supporters could have been forgiven for worrying about a sense of deja

• Midfielder is back after illness and injury
• Andy Carroll set to play against former club

Kenny Dalglish has warned against expecting too much, too soon from Steven Gerrard, who is back fit again and available to face Newcastle United for Liverpool at Anfield on Friday night.

“We could do with a few more goals, and Steven may be able to help us with that,” Dalglish said. “He’s got goals in him, as well as charisma, presence and everything else. But every player in the side is capable of scoring goals, we can’t just put it all on Steven’s shoulders. If we are going to be a one-man band we’ve no chance. Every single one of us is going to have to score a few more goals. There’s no magic formula.”

Liverpool have scored only 21 goals in 18 Premier League matches and have drawn six of their nine matches at Anfield. Their top scorer Luis Suárez, with five league goals, will miss the game after being banned for his one-fingered gesture to the crowd at Fulham this month, opening the door for Andy Carroll to play against his old club.

Gerrard has been out for a couple of months with a freak succession of strains and infections, but played for 20 minutes against Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day and according to his manager is in better shape than ever.

“He looks unbelievably fit at the moment,” Dalglish said. “I think he feels the bad luck might all be behind him now. He just needs game time but we won’t be irresponsible. We’ll just take it as diligently and professionally as we always do. There’s no need to throw him straight in. He’s not ready to last 90 minutes yet, and he’s experienced enough to recognise that. There’s no panic. We’d rather have him for the rest of the season than just a couple of games right away.”

Gerrard’s return against Blackburn lifted the spirits of the Anfield crowd, even if his efforts on the pitch were not quite as successful as he would have wished in terms of turning another home draw into a win. Ever the realist, Dalglish does not believe Liverpool’s results will automatically improve now their most celebrated player is back. “It’s great to have him playing again, but he’s never really been away from the club,” the Liverpool manager said. “He’s always in and around the club and the training ground anyway, just like Jamie Carragher. It’s a bit like having three captains at the moment [Pepé Reina has been wearing the armband in the absence of the other two], and that can only make us stronger.

“There’s no doubt that Steven has made a massive contribution to the success of this football club, and he’s managed to do it in a lot of the games that really meant something, but you don’t actually know how the season would have gone had he been playing. It might have been different, it might not.

“I just think it’s a great credit to the rest of the lads that they have done so well without Steven. We all know what a great player he is, and if we are already playing well without him it can only improve us when he returns.”

Dalglish added: “Our target for the new year is to build on the work that’s already been done. When you consider how far we have come since August, we are pretty pleased. I’m delighted to be back here, I was fortunate to be asked. I’m happy and I am working with great people. We could be higher in the table but apart from the one at Manchester City every manager in the Premier League would say the same

Colourful and crazy as ever, the Manchester City striker is in hot water again after his red card at Anfield

A great game for English football,” Charlie Adam said afterwards. Not, however, a great game of English football, at least in the sense of one typifying national characteristics. Both sides included highly mobile miniature ball‑manipulators in their starting lineups – Luis Suárez and Dirk Kuyt for the home team, Sergio Agüero, Samir Nasri and David Silva for the visitors – with the result that there was no shortage of fluid movement. But this was a game that cried out for the introduction of the big men, and eventually it got three of them, with highly contrasting results.

One of those big men was Mario Balotelli, whose expulsion in the 83rd minute, 18 minutes after his arrival as a substitute for Nasri, prefaced an episode after the final whistle that reportedly culminated in damage to the door of the away team’s dressing room.

“If he damaged the door, he pays,” Roberto Mancini said. “Just like his