ELLAND ROAD will look to recreate glory days of the past, but Rafael Benitez has his sights firmly on the future this evening.

The Spaniard will once again use the Carling Cup as a chance to experiment as he takes a much-changed Liverpool side to Coca-Cola League One leaders Leeds United for their third round clash.

The pair haven’t met since Leeds began their slide down the divisions with relegation from the Premier League in 2004, with tonight’s game actually the first time the Yorkshiremen have hosted a leading top-flight club since then.

It’s a far cry from the days of the 1960s and 70s, when the two sides were regularly competing for top honours, an event that was being replicated as recently as the first half of this decade.

Elland Road will be a 38,000 sell-out – bolstered by a 5,000-strong travelling support – as Simon Grayson’s men aim to pull off a shock result.

A 4-1 win against Gillingham at the weekend moved Leeds two points clear at the top of League One and secured a 15th successive home victory for the Whites.

And Benitez is under no illusions that his mixture of first-team regulars and fringe players are facing a testing evening.

I believe the game will be a sell-out, and it is a surprise to me that Leeds find themselves in League One these days,” says the Anfield manager.

“Leeds will be difficult, we know they are a big club and we respect their history. I have no doubts that this will be a very difficult match. They have quality and they are a big club with great traditions.

“I have been watching DVDs of their games and it is clear that their supporters are very important to them. They back their team all the time.

“Those fans are amazing, such loyalty and support, and that has been very apparent to me in watching tapes from last season.

“For our players to play in front of 38,000 people will be good. It’s an opportunity for us and it’s a massive game for Leeds.”

Benitez adds: “It’s a real surprise to me that they have fallen so far. I recall one of the first games I saw in England was between Leeds and Manchester United with Harry Kewell playing against Jaap Stam, that was not so long ago.”

Having lost 3-2 to Chelsea in the final during his first season at the club five seasons ago, the Carling Cup has served only to expose the shortcomings in Benitez’s squad.

A subsequent decision to use the competition as a chance to give fringe players an opportunity has ensured the furthest they have subsequently reached is the quarter-finals in 2006-07, when they were thumped 6-3 at home by Arsenal.

Liverpool beat Crewe Alexandra at this stage of last season’s Carling Cup before the capitulation at Tottenham Hotspur in the following round sparked intense debate over the quality of the squad, the effectiveness of the Academy and Benitez’s policy of stockpiling foreign youngsters.