WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS VS. LIVERPOOL FC
| Friday, March 6th |
FA Cup | Molineux Stadium
8PM GMT/3PM EST
After suffering a humiliating 2-1 defeat at the hands of relegation-bound Wolves in the Premier League on Tuesday evening in a game in which Liverpool probably played just barely well enough to win more often than not—albeit, again, against a relegation-bound, probably the worst in the Premier League Wolves side—Arne Slot’s struggling Reds head straight back to the West Midlands to take on the same opponents in the FA Cup.
On paper, Liverpool
should be favourites even if there’s some rotation, but given this season has provided a steady stream of Liverpool delivering less than you’d expect from the defending league champions, well, nobody is likely to be taking things for granted on Friday which raises an interesting question of what that could mean from a lineup point of view with a Champions League Round of 16 tie in Istanbul against Galatasaray up next.
After going with a stronger lineup than expected in the previous round of the FA Cup we’re going to assume more of the same from Slot this time around, but given the doubts and question marks around this Liverpool edition—doubts and question marks that honestly don’t seem any closer to being answered in March than they were back in October—nothing would be a surprise.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)
Alisson; Frimpong, Konaté, Gomez, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Jones; Salah, Ekitike, Ngumoha
Injuries could well limit the possible changes Slot can make even if he wants to shift things around a bit, with right back developing into a particular problem spot this season. That could mean Joe Gomez drafts in to give the recently returned Jeremie Frimpong a game off—but as no outfield Premier League player this season has played more than Virgil van Dijk, it does really feel as though maybe we’re past time the captain gets a weekend off.
In midfield, the only real question is whether Curtis Jones comes in for Alexis Mac Allister or perhaps Dominik Szoboszai, though Soboszlai could always be asked to fill in at right back to provide another answer to how things shake out there. Meanwhile, after a number of impactful appearances off the bench, it might be time for Slot to accept a hit to defensive stability in favour of a little more attacking creativity by giving Rio Ngumoha a start.
The Managers Have Their Say
Arne Slot: “We have to be better than we were the last time we played Wolves.”
Rob Edwards: “They will want to get the win and want to prove they are better after Tuesday night, but we have to try to make them relive it.”
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