Liverpool FC Forum

Nothing better than a good run in the oldest competition there is but we’ve kopped for a shocker of a draw, particularly given it’s the third round and there’s still tons of clubs left in.
These domestic cups are not only important for keeping our squad happy if you go out of the FA cup early it’s surprising how many dead weekends you have in the second half of the season, feels like weeks between games and that we are hardly ever playing so it’s important to stay in if we can.
Saying that with the AFCON and Asian cups  plus Dom’s hamstring the injured and missing list is getting steadily longer so it’s going to be tough

In all honesty Yakka, as much as I would be happy to progress in the FA Cup I'd be equally happy to have the squad use some of those "dead weekends" for further training and recovery.

Yes I like the FA cup and a good cup run but wouldn't be massively disappointed if we didn't progress.

Agree, the league is priority above all else for me this season, it's hard to be in pole position half way through the season, especially with our form starting to pick up. I like a good cup run but won't be too disappointed if we don't go deep this year.

This does now feel like the least important competition we are in. A title challenge looks realistic, we have a chance to couple that with a run at a European trophy and a final in Dublin, and to win the LC we just need to get past Fulham and Chelsea/Middlesbrough. So for me the FA Cup is in last place.

Saying that, I think both teams will go pretty strong and the main change will be the goalkeepers with Kelleher coming in for us and Ramsdale for them. We played Monday and Arsenal Sunday so both teams have had plenty of time to fully recover. After this game Arsenal go away for their winter break and don’t play again until the 20th. We play Fulham in the LC SF on Wednesday and then we go away for our winter break and don’t play until the 21st. This is all assuming we don't have to replay this game!

I'd stick with Kelleher for the domestic cups and play Alisson in the League and Europa League knockout stages. We shouldn't be sending out any kids away to Arsenal as it could get embarrassing for them. So select 10 from the 13 senior outfield players available. Trent, Gomez, Quansah, Konate, van Djik, Mac Allister, Jones, Gravenberch, Elliott, Gakpo, Diaz, Jota, and Nunez. I'd be surprised if anyone else is in serious contention to start.

I'm going to go against the grain here and suggest this competition is a prio. Losing Mo for weeks, Captain Chaos misfiring, injuries etc and the inevitable charge of the mercenaries (City) from Jan onwards suggests to me that the title this year might be a stretch too far. I'm not confident we have the squad - yet - to keep the pace going.
So for at least some silverware this year, I would focus on the cup and the European adventure.

bunglemark2 » Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:27 pm wrote:I'm going to go against the grain here and suggest this competition is a prio. Losing Mo for weeks, Captain Chaos misfiring, injuries etc and the inevitable charge of the mercenaries (City) from Jan onwards suggests to me that the title this year might be a stretch too far. I'm not confident we have the squad - yet - to keep the pace going.
So for at least some silverware this year, I would focus on the cup and the European adventure.

Sorry Bungle but I have to completely disagree with your perspective. I think with our best players fit and available the prem title is within our reach, and that's why I dismiss our involvement in  the FA Cup . We have bigger fish to fry 

p.s Would still be more than happy to see us beat Arsenal today, but in all honesty apart from our "pride " I'm really not bothered about the result in this one. For me it's a win win situation.
Win it, we march on, lose it and we give the lads time and training space to focus on the bigger trophies 

Liverpool: Alisson, Gomez, Konate, Diaz, Nunez, Mac Allister, Jones, Gakpo, Elliott, Alexander-Arnold, Quansah.

Subs: Kelleher, Jota, Gravenberch, Clark, Chambers, Gordon, McConnell, Bradley, Nyoni.

Strong XI as expected - give it all and go for broke - its almost a free hit in as this is probably fourth in order of importance right now

League, Europa , League Cup, FA  cup.

Good looking team. LFC are obviously taking this seriously. The quad is currently on !! Let’s just keep it going  !!

COYR

YNWA

woof woof ! » Sun Jan 07, 2024 5:31 pm wrote:

bunglemark2 » Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:27 pm wrote:I'm going to go against the grain here and suggest this competition is a prio. Losing Mo for weeks, Captain Chaos misfiring, injuries etc and the inevitable charge of the mercenaries (City) from Jan onwards suggests to me that the title this year might be a stretch too far. I'm not confident we have the squad - yet - to keep the pace going.
So for at least some silverware this year, I would focus on the cup and the European adventure.

Sorry Bungle but I have to completely disagree with your perspective. I think with our best players fit and available the prem title is within our reach, and that's why I dismiss our involvement in  the FA Cup . We have bigger fish to fry 

p.s Would still be more than happy to see us beat Arsenal today, but in all honesty apart from our "pride " I'm really not bothered about the result in this one. For me it's a win win situation.
Win it, we march on, lose it and we give the lads time and training space to focus on the bigger trophies 

The real loss would be a draw and a replay I think.

Anyway, looks like we're going with a strong team and so are they. Should be an intersesting match.

woof woof ! » Sun Jan 07, 2024 3:31 pm wrote:

bunglemark2 » Sun Jan 07, 2024 2:27 pm wrote:I'm going to go against the grain here and suggest this competition is a prio. Losing Mo for weeks, Captain Chaos misfiring, injuries etc and the inevitable charge of the mercenaries (City) from Jan onwards suggests to me that the title this year might be a stretch too far. I'm not confident we have the squad - yet - to keep the pace going.
So for at least some silverware this year, I would focus on the cup and the European adventure.

Sorry Bungle but I have to completely disagree with your perspective. I think with our best players fit and available the prem title is within our reach, and that's why I dismiss our involvement in  the FA Cup . We have bigger fish to fry 

p.s Would still be more than happy to see us beat Arsenal today, but in all honesty apart from our "pride " I'm really not bothered about the result in this one. For me it's a win win situation.
Win it, we march on, lose it and we give the lads time and training space to focus on the bigger trophies 

That's fair enough. It's what this forum is for. We don't always have to agree.

Going to be interesting to see how relaxed Darwin is since he doesn’t have to give the ball to Mo. Time for the forwards to step up!

We should be 2 down. Arsenal are all over us.

very poor from LFC so far
arsenal all over them

bunglemark2 » Sun Jan 07, 2024 5:02 pm wrote:very poor from LFC so far
arsenal all over them

Pretty abysmal tbh