Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
The F.A. Cup returns this weekend and it is to Anfield where we will see our first piece of action as Liverpool play host to Wolves this Lunchtime. This competition has been the only glimmer in a dark period for Jurgen Klopp, with victory over Plymouth at the second attempt their only win in their last 7 matches.
After being dumped out of the EFL Cup by Southampton in midweek they will hope that lightning does not strike twice when Paul Lambert’s Wolves side arrive at Anfield. Wednesday saw Liverpool miss out the opportunity to return to Wembley as they not only failed to overturn their 1st leg deficit but they also were deservedly beaten thanks to Shane Long’s stoppage time winner.
Once again it was a failure to win during Sadio Mane’s prolonged spell of absence, with Mane away on AFCON duty Liverpool have failed to break opposition sides down and they are lacking anything near resembling a ‘Plan B’ and with Mane still representing Senegal they could very well have the same struggles in a couple of hours.
They go up against a Wolves side who have already claimed a Premier League scalp thanks to their 3rd Round victory over Stoke at The Bet365 Stadium, what made the result all the more impressive is the fact that Wolves made wholesale changes while Stoke had what you would consider a full strength side.
Can Wolves pull off another upset this Lunchtime, well with the form that Liverpool are in they are certainly there for the taking, especially if Klopp once again decides to play the kids like he did when paired up with Plymouth in the previous round.
Last Saturday bought around Lunchtime misery for The Reds and they will certainly want to avoid that happening two weeks in a row. This could very well be a potential banana skin and Wolves will fancy their chances, Klopp can’t afford another game without a win and would not want to add another replay to an already hectic run of fixtures.
This one could be interesting, if I was a betting man then I would avoid picking this game out as there’s too much potential for it going against the form book. I guess I could rattle out as many cup cliches as possible but this is one is a bit too close to call. I think I’ll have to sit on the fence and just see how this one pans out.
