Liverpool v Reading – FA Cup Third Round Replay Wednesday

Liverpool v Reading, Anfield, Wednesday, January 13th. Can Reading “do a Leeds” and cause a major upset in this year’s FA Cup? Credit where it is due, they were probably the better of the two teams when they met, with Steven Gerrard having to come to Liverpool’s rescue to claim a 1-1 tie. With the January transfer market, it will be interesting to see what, if any, changes Rafa Benitez makes to his team. That is the important factor, the team. He has signed countless squad players, just not enough of them are real quality first team players. This was again highlighted in the draw with Reading, and now they have to dig just a little bit deeper again to avoid being out of everything for this season. Liverpool aren’t going to the Premier League, they are out of the Champions League, they are out of the Carling Cup, and it will really make sorry reading for Benitez and the Kop, if they crash out of the FA Cup in the third round.

They would have had a good testing warm up on the weekend in a Premier League fixture against Tottenham, but that got abandoned due to the adverse weather. Now they have to come from a cold start to beat the lowly Championship side, but at least they will have the backing of the home fans this time around. The grit that got them through the first encounter, will probably translate into enough for them to beat Reading in all honesty. It usually is the way when it comes to cup replays like this. The underdog will usually give the bigger team a run for their money in the first match, but if the top side can at least scrounge a draw, they usually pull through in a replay.

Liverpool have seen a couple of players go, with Voronin and Dossena leaving Anfield, but there has been no movement coming back so far. Whether the money is there to make big signings is another matter, and if not, Benitez is going to have a real battle on his hands all season to keep up a challenge for a top four finish. One other departure has been Tom Hicks Jr from the Anfield board. After alleged disputes with a fan, the director stepped down. The board has been under pressure from Liverpool fans to get out of the club, including Tom Hicks Sr and George Gillett, who took on a lot of debt to buy the club, leaving their financial status in not too great a condition. Fans are unhappy about the current status of the football club, and the apparent inability to do anything to change it.

Still, all that’s for the boardroom discussions, and it is on the pitch where the football will be focused on Wednesday night. Reading are just one place out of the drop zone in the Championship, after winning just one home game all season. No doubt they will be going to Anfield and playing with all of the heart they can, and they have performed much better on the road so far. In the first encounter, they exposed a lot of Liverpool’s fragilities. If they can produce that again it will be a good entertaining match, with questions being asked of the home side. However, one needs to think how hard it really is to cause upsets, and how often they happen, even to struggling Premier League sides. Liverpool need the win, as a chase for some domestic silverware will keep the Wolves from Rafa Benitez’s door a little bit longer.

Liverpool to win: 2/9 at BetFred
Draw: 6/1 at SkyBet
Reading to win: 14/1 at Paddy Power