Liverpool Quadruple Ambition Gets Man United Test
After winning the Carabao Cup last month Liverpool are hoping to add the FA Cup, Premier League and Europa Cup to their cabinet of trophies, and that tall ambition would be put to test tomorrow as the Reds visit their long time rival, Manchester United at Old Trafford. The Red Devils would be boosted by their 2-O win over Everton in the league, while Jurgen Klopp’s men would be hoping to build on their impressive performance against Manchester City at Anfield last weekend. It would no doubt be a fixture for the neutrals to enjoy
The pick of this weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final encounters comes under the bright lights of Old Trafford, as 12-time champions Manchester United pit their wits against eight-time winners, Liverpool.
Erik ten Hag’s troops eked out a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest to progress to the last eight, whereas the Reds’ young guns stole the spotlight in a 3-0 fifth-round beating of Southampton.
Whether the under-fire Ten Hag will still be in the hotseat at the end of the season is anybody’s guess – rumours have swirled that the Dutchman is not viewed as a long-term answer by Sir Jim Ratcliffe – but the ex-Ajax boss could yet lead the Red Devils to two major trophies in as many seasons.
On the back of last season’s EFL Cup stardom, the 20-time English champions were too hot for Wigan Athletic and Newport County to handle in the earlier rounds of the FA Cup, and they also navigated a Premier League-sized test in the shape of Nottingham Forest on February 28.
Following 88 scoreless minutes at the City Ground, the deftest of Casemiro touches from a Bruno Fernandes free kick propelled the Red Devils into the quarter-finals of the cup, where they have alternated between victories and defeats in their last eight appearances, losing one quarter-final match then winning the next since 2014-15.
Having made it all the way to Wembley last year, superstition is therefore not on the side of the 2022-23 runners-up, but recent form is more so, as they secured a seventh win from their last nine matches against Everton last weekend, where Fernandes and Marcus Rashford penalties did the damage.
The outcome could have been different had the Toffees managed to convert at least one of their plethora of chances, but profligacy has not been an issue for the Red Devils, who are now on a 13-match scoring streak across all competitions stretching back to Boxing Day.
Speaking of red-clad teams with red-hot attacking tendencies, Liverpool showed no mercy to Sparta Prague during the second leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday night, where they tore the Czech champions to shreds with an astonishing four goals in just 14 minutes.
Helped by some defensive catastrophes from their visitors, Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo, Bobby Clark and the history-making Mohamed Salah all contributed to a barnstorming start, before Dominik Szoboszlai’s deflected effort and Gakpo’s second sealed a 6-1 win on the night and an 11-2 aggregate success.
With a little over two months of the season left to play, departing hero Jurgen Klopp could still add another three winners’ medals to his collection thanks to previous FA Cup wins over Arsenal, Norwich City and Southampton, the latter of which saw academy proteges Lewis Koumas and Jayden Danns (two) sparkle under the Anfield lights.
A 1-1 draw with Manchester City in their Premier League blockbuster means that the title is now officially in Arsenal’s hands, although the Gunners – who are only leading Liverpool on goal difference – must trek to the Etihad after the international break, where Reds fans ought to be praying for a stalemate as Gooners were on March 10.
Now unbeaten in nine games and boasting six wins from their last six FA Cup quarter-finals, Liverpool have a couple of wrongs to right against Man United, whom they drew 0-0 with at Anfield in December and lost 2-1 to at Old Trafford in August 2022 either side of their 7-0 Merseyside mauling, the Red Devils’ heaviest loss in the Premier League to date.
