Match Preview: Liverpool Hope To Cage Canaries To Advance In FA Cup

Liverpool will have to try to focus on football versus Norwich City in the FA Cup after manager Jürgen Klopp dropped his bombshell news on Friday about leaving the club at the end of the season. If the Reds want to give their beloved boss a proper sendoff, and the chance to lift more trophies, they must be on point from the kickoff to survive knockout football.

Injury Update

Liverpool got some good news on the injury front in the build-up to the Norwich City match. Andy Robertson who was an unused substitute vs Fulham is expected to see his first action on the pitch after a lengthy stay on the injury list. Dominik Szoboszlai and Trent Alexander-Arnold are also expected to return from injury for this match, so the Reds should be closer to full strength against the Championship side. Mohamed Salah is still expected to miss several weeks due to an injury obtained during international duty.

Get To Know Norwich

Norwich City are one of the oldest teams in English football. The Canaries were founded in 1902 and play their games at Carrow Road since 1934. More recently, they have enjoyed success in the Premier League, but they are currently in the Championship fighting for a playoff spot in their quest to earn promotion. The Canaries' best player is arguably US international Josh Sargent. He has battled injury most of the season but when healthy Sargent has scored five goals in just nine matches played. Klopp and Norwich City manager David Wagner were once teammates, so they know each other very well.  Liverpool played Norwich twice before in the FA Cup at Anfield (1996 and 2022) and have gone on to lift the trophy on both occasions.

A Word From The Captain

This is the first time that we have gotten to hear from any players since Klopp announced his imminent departure from the club at the end of the year. Virgil van Dijk addressed the topic with the media.

“Let’s make the rest of the season a special one,” van Dijk said. “It's a hard one to take, because the manager means so much for us, to me, to the club, to the whole Premier League I think. But he made the decision for him and his family. It was always going to be a tough one and it was definitely the case.” 

“That's the beauty of football as well. We don’t really have time to think about it,” van Dijk continued. “We are ready for the FA Cup this weekend and it's going to be a tough one, big one. We have players coming back, so that's a big positive too and we need everyone – and that's what we have been showing throughout the whole season.”

LFC Globe Verdict

I, for one, am looking forward to this game. I’m not worried about how the players will react to Klopp’s news because they have known since November and played very well. As for the game itself, no football match is ever easy but Liverpool have not lost an FA Cup game at Anfield in the last 47 such fixtures. I think the key for Liverpool is to jump on top early and enjoy the ride.

Where To Watch

Kickoff is set for 14:30 GMT on Sunday, January 28th and can be seen on ITV. American Supporters can stream the match on ESPN+ beginning at 9:30 AM. Canadian viewers can stream via fuboTV.

A full list of streaming options is available by visiting LFC Globe’s Live Streams page