Will Klopp get himself into the quarter-finals?
Liverpool Football Club barely have time to breathe these days. Only three days after the highly emotional and intense League Cup final, which was won on penalties against Chelsea, the team of coach Jürgen Klopp is already challenged again in the FA Cup. There, the Reds enjoy home rights against Norwich City in the last 16.
Despite the extremely high pressure on the home side, there is no doubt that LFC will make it to the quarter-finals and can continue to dream of the maximum success, the quadruple. This assessment is also underlined by the bookmakers’ odds between Liverpool and Norwich.
It will nevertheless be interesting to see which personnel Jürgen Klopp will call up with a view to the upcoming tasks in the Premier League as well as in the Champions League round of 16 second leg against Inter Milan. As we tend to expect a B eleven, we would not be particularly surprised if the favourites fail to score a big win this time, partly in order to save energy. Before the one-sided Liverpool vs. Norwich clash, a prediction on relatively few goals could therefore pay off.
Liverpool – Statistics & current form
What a final it was on Sunday afternoon at Wembley Stadium between Liverpool and Chelsea for the, compared to the FA Cup, actually less important League Cup? After several goals were disallowed in normal time and extra time, the penalty shoot-out had to decide the match. While all eleven Reds players, including keeper Kelleher, scored, Blues goalkeeper Kepa’s missed 22nd penalty ensured that the Klopp team won the title and celebrated exuberantly.
On Wednesday evening, however, the focus will be back on the sporting side of things, as the team will be competing for a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. If we look at the odds on the three-way market between Liverpool and Norwich, the task should be absolutely solvable for the 2020 champions. No wonder, after all, one of the in-form teams in the country faces one of the hottest relegation candidates from the Premier League.
Liverpool in great form
Competitively, LFC have won all of their last nine matches. In the league alone, the men from the Merseyside celebrated six victories in a row and thus put themselves back in the race for the English championship. The two opening hurdles in the FA Cup against Shrewsbury and Cardiff were also taken very confidently, even though numerous substitutes were used in these matches.
On Wednesday, we also expect the successful German coach to mix up his team. Only a few stars who were in the starting eleven on Sunday in London will be on the pitch again from the beginning. This, in turn, is the most important argument for betting that the Reds will not set off any offensive fireworks between Liverpool and Norwich.
Instead, we believe in another stable defensive performance. A clean sheet has been recorded in eight of the 13 competitive matches played in the 2022 calendar year.
Predicted Liverpool line-up:
Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Elliott, Milner, Jones; Jota, Origi, Minamino
Last matches played by Liverpool:
Carabao Cup
02/27 2022 – Chelsea London (10)0 – 0(11) Liverpool FC
Premier League
02/23 2022 – Liverpool FC 6 – 0 Leeds
02/19 2022 – Liverpool FC 3 – 1 Norwich
Champions League Final
02/16 2022 – Inter Milan 0 – 2 Liverpool FC
Premier League
02/13 2022 – Burnley 0 – 1 Liverpool FC
Norwich – Statistics & current form
Norwich City once again have other problems this season than looking forward to an FA Cup Round of 16 tie at Anfield Road. In the Premier League, the Canaries are threatened with relegation for the third time in a row. The Canaries are currently in last place, five points off the bottom, although Everton, in 17th place, still have two games in hand.
Given the tricky situation in the league, you almost have to conclude that next weekend’s home game against fellow promotion hopefuls Brentford is far more important than the aforementioned cup tie on Merseyside.
Does Norwich give away the FA Cup?
Consequently, it will also be exciting to see to what extent coach Dean Smith spares his regulars at the underdogs. Of course, this does not increase the already slim chances of a surprise at the newly crowned Carabao Cup winners.
In general, there are hardly any noteworthy reasons to recommend a prediction on the underdog between Liverpool and Norwich. The Canaries have picked up just one point from their last four Premier League games, have recently lost three in a row and have scored just four goals in their winless run. It would therefore come as no surprise if the weakest attack in the English top flight, which has only scored 15 goals of its own, were to go away empty-handed once again.
If there is one positive thing to note, it is certainly the two appearances in the FA Cup so far. Wolverhampton and Charlton Athletic both recorded narrow 1-0 victories. If they manage to pull off another surprise, it will be only their second quarter-final appearance in the FA Cup since 1992. Incidentally, they have never made it to the preliminary round since the early 1990s.
Predicted Norwich line-up:
Gunn; Aarons, Zimmermann, Gibson, Giannoulis; McLean, Normann, Lees-Melou; Sargent, Pukki, Rashica
Last matches played by Norwich:
Premier League
02/25 2022 – Southampton 2 – 0 Norwich
02/19 2022 – Liverpool FC 3 – 1 Norwich
02/12 2022 – Norwich 0 – 4 Manchester City
02/09 2022 – Norwich 1 – 1 Crystal Palace
FA Cup
02/05 2022 – Wolverhampton 0 – 1 Norwich
Liverpool – Norwich Direct Comparison / H2H Balance
Norwich didn’t score much in the last meetings between these teams. In the Premier League alone, the Reds celebrated five victories in a row. In the current season, LFC dominated both league games, winning 3-0 and 3-1 respectively. The clubs also met in the EFL Cup, also with the better end for Klopp’s team (3-0).
But watch out: In the FA Cup, the Canaries are even a kind of fearful opponent, because three of the previous six duels went to Norwich. However, the last encounter here was more than 30 years in the past.
Liverpool – Norwich Tip
This is the fourth time Liverpool and Norwich City have faced each other this season. All three previous duels could be won by the Champions League winner of 2019. Always clearly with 3:0 (2x) as well as 3:1. Each time, a tip on the Reds in combination with the under 4.5 would have gone through.
Also on Wednesday evening we believe that LFC will advance to the next round. Although the workload has been extremely high in recent days and weeks, coach Jürgen Klopp’s team is in such good form that fatigue is unlikely to be a major issue. On the other hand, the squad is broad enough to allow for a certain amount of rotation. Added to this is the very good mood after winning the EFL Cup title on Sunday.
Because the betting odds on the home win after regular time between Liverpool and Norwich are far too low, we combine this with the under 4.5 and justify this primarily with the fact that the Reds will spare numerous stars. An improved B eleven, especially in the offensive, should therefore have no problems, but the victory could still be closer than expected.
