Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Liverpool

Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool battle it out for a place in the FA Cup round of 16 at Molineux Stadium.

Wolverhampton thought they ousted Liverpool before a controversial VAR call disallowed their late winner in last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Anfield, leading this tie to a replay. Julen Lopetegui’s men were slow to react to VAR heartbreak on Merseyside, bowing out of the League Cup quarterfinals at the hands of Nottingham Forest via penalties (1-1). However, they returned to winning ways in the Premier League last weekend, scoring two unanswered second-half goals to beat fellow relegation rivals West Ham United 2-0 and hinder an underwhelming run of four winless matches (D2, L2). Worryingly, though, they’ve lost their last three competitive home encounters against Liverpool by a single-goal margin.

Liverpool’s impressive winning streak at Molineux may not count for much here, considering Jurgen Klopp’s men head into proceedings on the back of a thumping 3-0 Premier League defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion. These are tumultuous times for Klopp, as his men already lag way behind the current top-four sides in the Premier League, while a 3-2 loss to Manchester City in December eradicated their hopes of defending the League Cup title. If they’re to maintain their hopes of winning back-to-back FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history, they’ll have to defy an ominous-looking four-match form on hostile turf, all competitions included (W1, L3). Interestingly, all four games in that span saw the winner on the day net precisely three goals.