Jeff Stelling has bemoaned the open draw format of the FA Cup which led to Liverpool being handed a trip to Arsenal in the third round of the competition when the fixtures were drawn on Sunday.

One of the Premier League’s current top two will instantly crash out of the tournament next month, although the former Sky Sports presenter’s gripe isn’t with the swift felling of a big name, but rather the missed opportunity for unique pairings to be formed and the lower league teams to get valuable income from TV coverage.

Speaking on talkSPORT (via The Mirror), the 68-year-old said: “I’m not interested in Arsenal against Liverpool in the FA Cup, I see it in the Premier League, not interested at all.

“What worries me is some of the smaller teams who get through to this stage. You look at Eastleigh and Maidstone, they played five games to get to this stage and they are looking for a bumper payday, and what happens? They get a rotten draw [Newport County/Barnet and Stevenage/Port Vale respectively].”

“No chance of TV coverage by the way, no chance of a big payday. What they need to do is seed the third round draw of the FA Cup. For goodness sake, it is not too difficult.”

Stelling then called for the 20 teams who advance from the second round to be kept apart, thus giving them a tie against either Premier League and Championship opposition and vastly increasing their chances of a ‘glamour’ draw.

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We can certainly see the point that the ex-Soccer Saturday host is making, although his proposal is sure to polarise opinion within English football followers.

While some will welcome his idea, others with a more conservative mindset will probably lament any calls for the long-standing open draw format of the FA Cup to be discontinued, with the competition having already seen traditions such as replays from the fifth round onwards being scrapped.

From a Liverpool perspective, there’d be a welcome novelty to coming up against a team from outside the top two divisions, with some clubs in the third round bound to have been praying either for a trip to Anfield or for the Reds to visit them.

Alas, we instead must face three meetings against Arsenal (potentially four if a replay is needed) inside six weeks, with the clubs’ two Premier League head-to-heads spaced comparatively close to one another this season.

Maybe Stelling’s suggestion of a seeded draw will be adopted in future campaigns, but for now Jurgen Klopp and LFC won’t experience the rarity of a non-league club taking them on in football’s oldest competition.

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Liverpool have been handed one of the toughest fixtures possible in the draw for the third round of the FA Cup, which was made on Sunday lunchtime.

In one of the first ties to be drawn (via Liverpool Echo), the Reds will face an away trip to current Premier League leaders Arsenal, who’ve won this particular competition a record 14 times, most recently in 2020.

With the game set to take place on the weekend of 6/7 January, it’ll be our first away match of 2024, with Newcastle visiting Anfield in league action on New Year’s Day.

It also ensures that Liverpool will face the Gunners at least three times in the space of six weeks, with the FA Cup clash falling in between top-flight meetings on 23 December and 3 February.

READ MORE: Nunez and Trent return among 6 changes by Klopp – Liverpool team news v Fulham confirmed

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Klopp will be cursing his team’s luck in the cup draw, with theoretically no harder fixture than an away tie against the current leaders of the Premier League.

However, when the teams met in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup two seasons ago, Liverpool prevailed 2-0 in the second leg at the Emirates Stadium en route to winning the trophy.

Also, the Gunners aren’t likely to be overly ecstatic about the prospect of facing a Reds side enjoying a resurgence this season, while we could view the game through the prism of it being an opportunity to eliminate one of the favourites for the trophy and score a huge psychological blow.

It’s certainly the standout tie of the round, and it ensures a blockbuster start to 2024 off the back of the Newcastle clash on New Year’s Day!

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It’s only been two days since the 2022/23 season ended for Liverpool, but many Reds fans are already turning their attention towards the forthcoming campaign, one which sees us competing in the Europa League for the first time in eight years.

The last nine months have been largely forgettable for Jurgen Klopp’s side, with supporters quickly focusing on the club’s prospective transfer business over the summer in the hope that LFC can get back to competing for major silverware by the time May 2024 rolls around.

If you’re making plans for the next 12 months, here are the important dates you need to know in terms of the transfer windows and the tournaments in which we’ll be competing next season:

Transfer windows

While the rumour mill continues at a frenetic pace, no transfer can officially go through until the summer window commences on Wednesday 14 June. It will then remain open until deadline day on Friday 1 September, with Premier League clubs having until 11pm that night to get deals done.

Liverpool’s next opportunity to sign players comes on Monday 1 January, with the winter transfer window closing on Thursday 1 February, again with an 11pm cutoff.

Premier League & international breaks

The 2023/24 Premier League season won’t begin quite as early or run quite as late as in 2022/23, as this time there’s no World Cup to shoehorn into the middle of it.

The domestic campaign begins for Jurgen Klopp’s side on the weekend of 12/13 August, with the action all coming to a crescendo on Sunday 19 May. The fixture list will be announced at 9am on Thursday 15 June.

As with some recent campaigns, there will be a scheduled winter break between 13 and 20 January, with no two rounds of fixtures taking place within 48 hours of each other during that time.

There are four international windows during the 2023/24 season, with the weekends of 9/10 September, 14/15 October, 18/19 November and 23/24 March given over to national team action. Those might be a good time to plan a little getaway in the knowledge that you won’t miss any Liverpool games!

FA Cup and Carabao Cup

The Reds didn’t progress too far in either competition in 2022/23, having gone the full distance in both during the campaign prior.

If we make it to the Carabao Cup final again, it takes place on Sunday 25 February, three days after a potential Europa League tie (more on that below).

The date for the FA Cup final has yet to be announced, but if it follows this season’s pattern of falling on the weekend in between the conclusion of the Premier League and the Champions League decider, it’d be projected to take place on Saturday 25 May.

Europa League

Liverpool go straight into the group stage for the Europa League, with the draw for that round of the competition taking place on Friday 1 September.

Our six group games will be held on the Thursdays of 21 September, 5 October, 26 October, 9 November, 30 November and 14 December, which in turn will mean our subsequent Premier League games will be on either the following Sunday or Monday in each instance.

Therefore, if for example you’re off to a wedding on 23 September, fear not as the Reds won’t be playing that day, so you won’t be missing out!

If Liverpool come second in their group, they’ll need to negotiate a play-off round on 15 and 22 February. If we get through that, or bypass it by topping our group, the round of 16 takes place on 7 and 14 March.

The quarter-finals are on 11 and 18 April, with the semi-finals on 2 and 9 May, and hopefully we’ll be off to Dublin for the 2024 Europa League final on Wednesday 22 May.

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Manchester United may have inadvertently given Liverpool a helping hand in the Reds’ pursuit of European qualification this weekend.

Although many Kopites would likely have preferred Brighton to progress to the FA Cup final yesterday, the penalty shootout win for Erik ten Hag’s side at Wembley may well have been a better result for their arch-rivals in terms of their potential continental involvement for next season.

As highlighted by the Liverpool Echo, with both United and cup final opponents Manchester City looking nailed-on to finish inside the top five of the Premier League, the Europa League berth from winning at Wembley on 3rd June looks set to be reallocated to the team finishing sixth in the top flight.

That could well be Jurgen Klopp’s side, and with the scenario of them ending in that position ahead of the Seagulls but going into the Europa Conference League instead if Roberto De Zerbi’s men won the FA Cup now avoided, the Red Devils’ success on Sunday could yet work in our favour.

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Of course, anything less than finishing fourth and securing Champions League football would render this season a disappointment for the Reds.

However, if we’re to miss out on the flagship UEFA club tournament, then it’s well worth pushing to secure a Europa League place rather than settling for the Conference League, or missing out on Europe altogether.

One of the better decisions taken by European football’s governing body in recent years has been to give the Europa League winners automatic qualification and top seeding for the subsequent edition of the Champions League.

That has added a far greater incentive to go all-out for the former competition, which was often looked upon with scorn by the continent’s elite clubs beforehand.

Some may feel that the Europa League’s overall quality has also been improved by the creation of the Conference League, which offers a more realistic route for teams lower down the UEFA coefficient to enjoy a prolonged run in Europe.

Playing regularly on Thursday nights obviously isn’t the most ideal scenario for Liverpool, but the calendar shouldn’t be overly congested if that materialises as it’d only take two more matches to win the Europa League than it would the Champions League.

The ‘secondary’ competition gave us some great memories when we were last in it during Klopp’s first season at Anfield (most notably that dramatic night against Dortmund), and if our potential passage into it has been helped by United reaching the FA Cup final, we’ll take it.

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Liverpool fans have reams of famous Steven Gerrard memories to run through in their own heads when they think of all the achievements that were secured whilst our former No.8 was playing for the Reds but Peter Crouch has shared a memory of a time that hasn’t been revealed before.

Speaking on the ‘That Peter Crouch podcast’, our former striker spoke about half-time during the 2006 FA Cup final and how his captain acted in the break.

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The 42-year-old said: “I remember all of us stood up when we first went in there [the dressing room] and it was like: ‘What are we going to do?’ and stuff like that, with Stevie being more vocal than anyone else… it was a big shouting conversation that Stevie would have led”.

The fromer England attacker also went on to explain the role of Rafa Benitez and Jamie Carragher, before our side went out and managed to secure a memorable cup win in Wales.

You can watch Crouch’s comments on the half-time Gerrard talk (from 20:44) via That Peter Crouch Podcast on YouTube:

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Liverpool fell to a crushing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Brighton two weeks ago, now we return to the AMEX stadium in the hope of redemption and one pundit has predicted a high scoring result from the game.

Writing for BBC Sport, Chris Sutton said: ‘4-3. I’m not going to apologise to Liverpool fans for saying this – but I just don’t trust their team to deliver anymore.

‘They don’t have the same intensity in their play that they once did under Jurgen Klopp, and it is far too easy to get through their defence, as Brighton showed when they beat them 3-0 earlier this month.

READ MORE: De Zerbi rules Lallana and one other Brighton star out for FA Cup clash with Liverpool

‘Of course Mohamed Salah can still do his stuff and score a brilliant goal but that’s not enough to make up for all the problems behind him.

‘Liverpool are a long way off the pace in the Premier League so I am sure Klopp would love a FA Cup run, but I don’t see it happening.

‘This might be an open game which, in the past would have suited the Reds. Now it plays into Brighton’s hands and they look full of confidence at the moment.

‘I can see there being a few goals but if the Seagulls win, is it really a shock? I don’t think so’.

It’s not a great read for our fans but given the recent run of results, it’s hard to complain too much with what the former Norwich forward has said about what could happen in the cup clash against Roberto De Zerbi’s team.

Our boss described the loss to the Seagulls as the worst game he’s ever seen from one of his sides and so the only positive we can take from that is – surely it can’t get any worse just a fortnight later?

We’ll be back with a point to prove and may even find ourselves in an unusual position of being the underdogs against a side we are historically much greater than but recent results show a tale of two different teams.

On the back of two clean sheets and an impressive third round replay performance in this competition, hopefully this can be the foundations of a better run of form and a much more succesful second half of the campaign.

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After red faces in the BBC studio with the moans that were heard ahead of kick-off, the sound soon became groans from within the Molineux Stadium as the lights went out inside the first five minutes.

It’s not something you see every day and actually benefited Liverpool because the home side were on the attack, as the ground plunged into darkness.

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Adama Traore had the ball on the right wing and was trying to beat Kostas Tsimikas but the attack was soon set to abruptly end.

The issue came from a power cut in the local area and even meant that VAR were unable to access their cameras for much of the first-half but thankfully there were no issues that came from this.

You can watch the Molineux light show via @BBCSport on Twitter:

Well, is that a first in the FA Cup?

The lights have gone out at Molineux

Watch live on @BBCOne and @BBCiPlayer, plus get more on the @BBCSport app #BBCFootball #BBCFACup pic.twitter.com/4KCJTr0tkG

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) January 17, 2023

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Liverpool supporters were not delighted to see the FA Cup clash with Wolves end in a draw and one key reason for this is because we now have another fixture to play in the next couple of weeks, something Jurgen Klopp was vocal about after the match.

Speaking in his post-game press conference, the 55-year-old said: “I know where I am coming from, but the situation is that we could still play extra-time, or [a] penalty shootout, and the game is decided tonight.

“So, we deserved not more than a draw tonight and whatever the consequences are, in this case it’s now an extra game, so that’s fine. I have no problem with that… somebody told me that they will be decided about, or whatever, that somebody will talk about it if they scrap it… there was a discussion, I didn’t start the discussion, I got a question and the question I don’t think we should have them, but I knew we still have them.

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“It was clear that we have now to go to Wolves; Wolves [are] probably in this moment more happy about it than we are, but until then we will be happy enough to give it a go”.

You do have to feel sorry for the German at times because everyone knows his stance on the hectic fixture schedule we have in this country and the question is asked to him, with everyone knowing what his answer will be.

With Virgil van Dijk picking up a hamstring injury and many members of the squad already enduring fitness issues, we certainly don’t need another game if we want to see the Reds back to their best because fatigue won’t help anyone.

You can watch Klopp’s comments on FA Cup replays (from 3:46) via Empire of the Kop on YouTube:

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Liverpool ended the season with a domestic cup double and our latest trophy is now on show at Anfield.

Inside the club’s museum and trophy room, we are now proudly displaying the eighth FA Cup which was won after a penalty shoot-out with Chelsea at Wembley.

Kostas Tsimikas’ vital winning penalty was enough to bring the cup back to Merseyside and it was produly displayed through the streets of the city, following the end of the season.

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It’s not every season that a trophy is won and indeed the first time that this famous cup has been at Anfield since Steven Gerrard’s heroics in 2006.

This medal was a final one needed for a lot of the squad to complete the set of trophies on offer, after our success in the Carabao Cup back in February too.

For anyone who can get to Merseyside over the summer, it might well be worth popping in to have a look at the trophy that has been used since 1911 in England.

You can view the video of the FA Cup via Planet Liverpool on YouTube:

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A whopping six Liverpool players have been included in this season’s Emirates FA Cup Fans’s Team of the Season.

The Reds lifted the trophy for the eighth time earlier this month when they defeated Chelsea in the final at Wembley after a goalless 120-minutes and a penalty shootout.

The victory at the national stadium meant the Anfield outfit picked up their second trophy of the season after having already defeated Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final in February.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were chasing a historic quadruple this season but were pipped to the league title by a point by Manchester City yesterday.

A remarkable cup treble is still on the cards however, and Liverpool travel to Paris this weekend to face off with Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

READ MORE: Eden Hazard pushing to feature for Real Madrid against Liverpool in this weekend’s Champions League final clash

Kostas Tsimikas, the man who scored the winning spot kick for Klopp’s side in the FA Cup final win has earned a space in the team at left back.

He’s joined by fellow defenders Ibrahima Konate and Trent Alexander-Arnold as well as losing finalist Thiago Silva.

Brazilian midfielder Fabinho also represents the Merseysiders in midfield with Takumi Minamino and Luis Diaz ahead of him in attack – Japan international Minamino was the club’s top scorer in the competition with three goals despite not appearing in the final.

It’s great to see so many of our lads in the team and their spaces in the side are certainly deserved.

You can see the team in full below via @EmiratesFACup on Twitter:

Introducing your 2021-22 #EmiratesFACup Team of the Season, as voted for by you, the fans! pic.twitter.com/ZcixdKW5O2

— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) May 23, 2022

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Liverpool are three games from a possible quadruple and have just won the FA Cup but all the talk has been about booing at Wembley.

Ahead of the FA Cup final against Chelsea, our supporters jeered the national anthem and it soon made front page news and seemingly had the whole nation up in arms.

Seeing as this was done during several recent appearances at the national stadium, it’s strange how this occurrence caused such a media outrage.

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Nobody seems too interested in why we do it but it’s a good job that Pep Guardiola has been proven correct and the whole country has been right behind our club on this.

It feels like preaching to the choir but we all know about Margaret Thatcher’s plan for managed decline of the city, the cover up of the Hillsborough disaster and the general disdain from the whole nation towards our city and team – along with so many more reasons.

No violence was used by our fans, instead a protest against the establishment that doesn’t care about us and we’re all looking forward to the same outrage next time we hear chants about fans dying, poverty and foodbanks that are sung on a weekly basis towards our fans.

Anyway, just to prove this has all been a huge overreaction, here’s another occurrence when the anthem was booed back in 1986 and it will continue to be whenever we return to Anfield South.

You can watch the video of the 1986 FA Cup final via Planet Liverpool on YouTube:

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For anyone outside the stadium who may have wondered who won the FA Cup, Liverpool fans helped ensure the answer was very clear.

Following Kostas Tsimikas scoring the winning penalty, what seemed like hundreds of supporters quickly unveiled their red smoke bombs and flares inside Wembley.

The pictures after the end of the shoot-out are amazing and showed how superb our supporters were, in celebration of clinching the cup for the eighth time.

READ MORE: (Video) James Milner can’t bear to watch as Kostas Tsimikas scores the winning penalty for Liverpool in the FA Cup final

What many didn’t see though, was the fact that the smoke began to rise above and out of the stadium and started to spread around London.

One local took a picture of what the scene looked like from miles away and it makes the exuberant celebrations of our supporters seem even more impressive.

Given the fact that we didn’t have any goals in the match, everyone must have held their pyros back until full-time which made it look even more impressive.

You can view the image via @JP10n on Twitter:

Haha incredible pic.twitter.com/txEj5VQtv0

— J P (@JP10n) May 15, 2022

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The leader of Jurgen Klopp’s mentality monsters is Jordan Henderson and he is a true example to all of his teammates.

After captaining Liverpool to their eighth FA Cup win and playing the full 120 minutes of football, our No.14 was the first to begin his recovery ahead of the final three games of the season.

Given Fabinho’s injury, it’s likely the Sunderland-born midfielder will have to fill-in for our No.3 in the last two Premier League matches of the campaign.

READ MORE: (Video) Heartwarming moment Naby Keita hands Divock Origi the FA Cup so that he can celebrate with the Liverpool fans

After the Wembley success, the 31-year-old uploaded a video at 2 am where he was on his underwater bike and starting his recovery from a massive game for the Reds.

He uploaded a video with ‘Parent Trap’ by Jack Harlow playing in the background and the skipper then panned up to capture the FA Cup that he had taken home with him.

What an inspirational leader and it just shows how dedicated he is to helping his team be successful.

You can watch the video of Henderson via his Instagram account:

Iconic @JHenderson

[via jhenderson – IG] #LFC pic.twitter.com/S36QlyY8m0

— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) May 15, 2022

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Liverpool won the FA Cup by beating Chelsea in the final but it wasn’t just one game that meant we won the competition.

Jurgen Klopp used 31 different players throughout the tournament and one of those was boyhood Red Elijah Dixon-Bonner, who featured against Shrewsbury Town.

Following our victory in the final, the 21-year-old took to his Twitter account to write: ‘We’ve done it!!!! FA CUP CHAMPIONS! I still can’t believe I’m part of this squad. I grew up watching this on TV and now I’m a winner. Life is crazy. I love you all REDS! #YNWA #LFC’.

READ MORE: (Video) Adrian and Thiago Alcantara interrupt Kostas Tsimikas’ interview to kiss and sing with the FA Cup penalty hero

It’s amazing to read his pride in being part of this amazing team that we have assembled and the midfielder deserves to feel part of our eighth FA Cup victory.

Whatever the future holds with or away from this great club, no one can ever take away the fact that the Harlow-born youngster was part of this piece of silverware.

Well done to him and all the young lads for helping us achieve this feat.

You can view the Tweet via @edixonbonner99 on Twitter:

We’ve done it!!!! FA CUP CHAMPIONS! I still can’t believe I’m part of this squad. I grew up watching this on TV and now I’m a winner. Life is crazy. I love you all REDS! #YNWA #LFC pic.twitter.com/TsRQnCSCSI

— Elijah Dixon-Bonner (@edixonbonner99) May 14, 2022

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Chelsea will face a few late fitness tests, as they prepare to select a side to face Liverpool in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

Speaking with the media ahead of the match, Thomas Tuchel first gave an update on Mateo Kovacic: ‘We will try it today actually and see tomorrow, which is pretty surprising news that we are even in this situation, but Mateo wants to try it.

‘The medical department gave us the green light to try it. The advantage is that the ligament is already torn from the last incident so there is no new injury but heavy pain and it’s heavily swollen so we’re hoping that maybe time is enough that he makes it.’

READ MORE: (Video) “Happy birthday to the Greek Scouser!” – Curtis Jones celebrates Kostas Tsimikas’ birthday during Liverpool training

The German then spoke about N’Golo Kante: ‘He’s also trying and tried yesterday in team training and did more or less everything, hopefully now without a reaction.

‘It was a reduced training session because of the travel and fatigue so it was not a high-intensity training session but we will also try today with him.

‘He is keen to make it and hopefully he makes it to training 100 per cent. It will be crucial for us and it’s the moment to take risks.’

Chelsea’s club website then confirmed who would be out of the big match and provided an update on who may start the game up front: ‘While Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ben Chilwell will not be available for the final, Tuchel has a decision to make up front and hinted that only one of Kai Havertz and Romelu Lukaku would lead the line for the Blues at Wembley.

‘I can play both, although they lacked a bit of a perfect fit together.

‘It’s very likely that’s it’s one of the two but we will not give the line-up today.

‘Romelu played and scored lately, he did everything to stay on the pitch and it will be our final call tomorrow morning.’

As suspected by some of our supporters, the two doubtful players in midfield may be risked by the Londoners.

It could be something that backfires on the team from Stamford Bridge but with third place more or less secured and no Champions League final to look forward to, it’s one that looks to have been deemed as worth taking.

We’ll wait and see what happens but the five substitutions in this competition will also aid the possible changes in the match.

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The post Two out, two maybes and a hint on who will play up front for Chelsea as Thomas Tuchel faces the media before the FA Cup final appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.