Stoke At Anfield In FA Cup

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Wembley awaits...
I feel sorry for all those Mother's of Liverpool fans on Sunday because i predict a delivery of card and perhaps garage court flowers before a dash to a television or Anfield for most of your sons and daughters. The Reds face Stoke in the FA Cup and with the prospect of another trip to Wembley looming, everybody is excited for this one.

For Liverpool they are still without Daniel Agger and Glen Johnson whilst Stoke are missing Ricardo Fuller who is serving a ban.

Stoke have had a bit of a bumpy run of form in the league of late, losses to Chelsea and Fulham have been mixed in with wins over Swansea and Norwich. For Liverpool, their 3-0 victory over bitter rivals Everton in the Merseyside derby has hopefully boosted the sides performance. Before this the Reds had lost 3 league games in a row.

Liverpool have beaten Brighton, Manchester United and Oldham to get to this stage of the FA Cup whilst Stoke have pushed aside Crawley Town, Derby and Gillingham .

The last time the two sides met the game ended in a 0-0 draw. Their last meeting in a cup however was in the League Cup in October and Liverpool won 2-1.

Stat Sandwich

  • Liverpool have been drawn at home all four times in this season's FA Cup.
  • Stoke have kept 6 clean sheets in their last 8 FA Cup matches.
  • When Liverpool knocked Manchester United out of the cup this season, this was the first time the Reds had knocked Premier League opposition out in 6 years.

In my opinion if we were facing Stoke at the Britannia then i would be pretty worried. They're comfortable at home and in that sort of atmosphere would probably be able to fluster us. However, Liverpool are at Anfield and just like the Britannia, this is an immense atmosphere to play in, especially in the FA Cup.

With the options to bring in a fresh Craig Bellamy and going on the back of a confidence boosting win, i think Liverpool have the ability and correct mindset to go out and win on Sunday. The Merseyside derby in a sense came at a perfect time because if you can beat the Toffees so confidently then you're bound to feel like you can take on anyone. 

As we all know Stoke are very physical but with the likes of Martin Skrtel and Jamie Carragher in defence, two can certainly play that game. Peter Crouch will surely be on the look out to cause an upset but let's hope the defence remain tight.

Enjoy the match folks!