Will Liverpool easily progress?
David against Goliath – the clash at Anfield Road this Sunday in the oldest football competition in the world could hardly be described more aptly. The great Liverpool FC welcomes Cardiff FC from Wales, who are fighting for survival in the second division of the English league.
So the omens are clear ahead of the Liverpool – Cardiff City encounter, with the odds from the best bookmakers showing just 1.20 for the expected home win. Even though cup matches always bring big surprises and Jürgen Klopp will surely start the rotation machine in his usual manner to spare one or the other player from the front row and to give young players the opportunity to present themselves, a success of Cardiff is very unlikely.
Jürgen Klopp would certainly also like to avoid a second leg to avoid having to schedule another game in the Reds’ already overloaded schedule and an elimination already in the fourth round of the FA Cup is also not planned. That’s why he is likely to send a strong squad onto the pitch next Sunday as well.
Liverpool – Statistics & current form
Liverpool FC are keeping an almost spotless clean sheet in this year’s Premier League season. After a disappointing last season, also due to a lot of injuries, in which the Champions League participation was still secured, things are going better again for Liverpool FC this season. The big problem for Liverpool FC in the league is once again Manchester City, despite a strong 48 points from 22 games they are already 9 points behind Manchester City, with one game less. In the Champions League, Liverpool FC also secured their place in the group with Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and FC Porto. There was even an internal club record here, six wins from six games in the preliminary round.
Strong home record
Liverpool FC’s home record in the Premier League is almost flawless again this season. In ten home games, seven wins have been achieved and three times the points have been shared. In the ten home games, they have also conceded a staggering six goals, while scoring 25 of their own. Anything other than a home win in the Liverpool v Cardiff game would also be a big surprise at betting odds around 1.20, despite the expected rotation.
Rotation in FA Cup
In the FA Cup, in which the professional teams only enter from the third round onwards, the seven-time FA Cup winners have so far only had to play the home game against third division side Shrewsbury, which was easily won 4:1. Jürgen Klopp showed courage here by bringing in six! players from his own U23s and U19s, even if it was only against a third-division team. But even that could not stop Liverpool FC. In the course of the game, Klopp substituted several established regulars, so that the third division team was ultimately defeated clearly.
It remains to be seen whether Klopp will use a similar rotation against Cardiff FC, who are playing in a higher division, or whether one or two experienced players will be preferred this time. The strongest Liverpool eleven is not to be expected anyway due to the absence of some regular players. Nevertheless, our tip for Liverpool against Cardiff goes to an emphatic home win. Even with an expected B-team, Liverpool is still at least one size too big for Cardiff City. Missing on Saturday will be Salah and Mané, who are both in the final of the Africa Cup with their countries, as well as Origi and Elliot.
Predicted Liverpool FC line-up:
Kelleher, Robertson, van Dijk, Konaté, Tsimikas, Jones, Henderson, Morton, Jota, Firmino, Gordon
Last matches played by Liverpool FC:
Premier League
01/23 2022 – Crystal Palace 1 – 3 Liverpool FC
Carabao Cup
01/20 2022 – Arsenal London 0 – 2 Liverpool FC
Premier League
01/16 2022 – Liverpool FC 3 – 0 Brentford
Carabao Cup
01/13 2022 – Liverpool FC 0 – 0 Arsenal London
FA Cup
01/09 2022 – Liverpool FC 4 – 1 Shrewsbury
Cardiff – Statistics & current form
After relegation from the Premier League three years ago, Cardiff still managed to finish fifth and eighth in their first two seasons in the Championship. This season, however, the club from Wales is far away from these table regions and is in the middle of the relegation battle. With 26 points from 27 games, they are currently only in 20th place and have lost two of their last five games.
Miserable home record
The poor performance in the league so far is largely due to the poor home record, where they are in last place. Only three home games have been won so far. Away, it looks only slightly better, five away games were won, four times were drawn and six away games were lost. Cardiff are one of the defensively weakest teams in the Championship this season, conceding an average of 2 goals in away games. At least they managed an away win at bottom of the table Barnsley during the week – to nil.
We therefore predict that Liverpool will score at least three goals of their own against Cardiff next Saturday, especially as Liverpool are one of the most offensively potent teams in Europe. Basically, there is nothing to suggest a surprise win for the visitors from Wales, neither their current form nor their own away record. A progress against Liverpool in the FA Cup would be a small sensation. At least the squad looks good, only defender Bagan will be missing on Saturday.
Predicted Cardiff line-up:
Philips, Nelson, Morrison, Brown, Ng, Vaulks, Pack, Doyle, Colwill, Davies, Collins
Last Cardiff games:
Championship
02/02 2022 – Barnsley 0 – 1 Cardiff
01/30 2022 – Cardiff 2 – 1 Nottingham Forest
01/22 2022 – Bristol City 3 – 2 Cardiff
01/15 2022 – Cardiff 0 – 1 Blackburn
FA Cup
01/09 2022 – Cardiff 2 – 1 Preston
Liverpool – Cardiff Direct Comparison / H2H Balance
26 times the two teams have faced each other so far. Surprisingly, the overall balance in this encounter is quite even. Liverpool won 12 duels, Cardiff won 11 duels and 3 times this encounter ended in a draw. The goal difference of 43:38 is also slightly in favour of Liverpool FC. However, the duels in the recent past were all won by Liverpool, the balanced record comes mainly from encounters that are very far in the past.
Liverpool – Cardiff Tip
Our tip for the match between Liverpool and Cardiff goes clearly in the direction of a clear home victory. Even the fact that Jürgen Klopp will, as always in cup games, rotate properly, does not change this assessment. Liverpool FC are the clear favourites in this match, anything other than a clear home win would be a big disappointment for the Reds.
For Liverpool vs Cardiff, the odds for a home win are only in the 1.20 range. Since we expect Liverpool to ultimately win the game outright, we’re playing the Asian-HC at -2 at odds of 1.65. More than a 2 goal difference in a home win is quite realistic, especially because of Cardiff’s defensive deficiencies. In addition, we also assume that Liverpool will score 3 or more goals in the course of the match and therefore see value in the bet Liverpool 2.5 goals at odds of 1.75.
