Preview: Liverpool vs. Norwich City
Liverpool welcome Norwich City to Anfield for the fourth round of the FA Cup.
LIVERPOOL VS. NORWICH CITY
| Sunday, January 28th |
FA Cup | Anfield
2:30PM GMT/9:30AM EST
It’s a match that will definitely not be overshadowed by anything else when Norwich City visit Anfield on Sunday. The Reds overcame Arsenal in the third round of the FA Cup to make it there. Expectations have risen now that Liverpool booked their passage into the League Cup final at Wembley. Dreams of the domestic double are surely floating in everyone’s minds even as the team sits on top of the table and still in the Europa League.
Andy Robertson has returned to the team, which is a huge boon for Liverpool since the team have been without a senior left-back since both Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas got injured.
Norwich City sit in eighth place on the Championship table. It took a replay against Bristol Rovers where the Canaries came behind from a 1-0 deficit for them to earn the trip to Anfield. Manager David Wagner and Jürgen Klopp played together at Mainz and are well known to be old friends, so it will be a friendly rivalry when the Canaries come to visit.
But let’s be real. This game is coming over the backdrop of Klopp breaking Liverpudlian hearts by announcing his plan to leave the club at the end of the season. Emotions will be high in the stadium, and it’s hard to tell how that will affect the game itself. Will this news be a distraction for the team, or will this game be the first in the Jürgen Klopp victory tour?
Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)
Kelleher; Gomez, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Jones, Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Jota, Gakpo, Nunez
This is a good game for Robertson to get back into it after his months on the injury table. Aside from that good news, Joel Matip, Ben Doak, Stefan Bajcetic, Thiago Alcantara, and Kostas Tsimikas will all be unavailable through injury. Wataru Endo is still out competing in the Asian Cup. Mohamed Salah is back on Merseyside, but an injury has ruled him out of playing for club or country.
For Norwich City, Danny Batth, Josh Sargent, and Jon Rowe are all unavailable for Sunday’s clash.
What the Managers Had to Say
Jurgen Klopp: “ I think the start of the season was really good and then they lose more or less their offensive department and that’s when they struggled a bit. Now they are in touching distance of the play-off spots. They lost last night, I didn’t see anything about it yet, about the Leeds game. They obviously have big games coming up. ”
David Wagner: “I wasn’t surprised, but when he told me, I was happy for him,” Wagner said. “I know how hard and difficult this decision was and is. It shows a lot of personality, character and bravery to make this decision, but I think only he knows what is best for him. We both know how exhausting and challenging this business can be - nobody has more understanding of this decision than I do.”
The Officials
Referee: Sam Barrott Assistant referees: Marc Perry and Mark Stevens Fourth official: Craig Pawson VAR: Tim Robinson Support VAR: Stuart Attwell Assistant VAR: Mark Scholes
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