Key events
Conor Hourihane, the former Villa midfielder and now Barnsley boss, speaks to the cameras:
Anfield under the lights gives us an extra boost. We’re really excited but we understand the task at hand. You look at Macclesfield and they have given all the underdogs belief. We’re going to suffer and work very hard in a mid to low block. At times, we play good football at the right times. Hopefully we’ll have spells like that tonight.
Hourihane is still just 34 and has moved from a player to an assistant to a full-time manager in just over a year.
It’s been a rollercoaster. I want to be really successful. I’m really ambitious and hungry to get to levels like [Anfield] more often.
True to his word, Arne Slot has fielded a very strong XI, keen to avoid the same mistake as at Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup last season. It still looks like a 4-3-3, with a front three of Chiesa, Gakpo, Ngumoha. I have been hugely impressed by the latter, despite Ngumoha being just 17. Anyone can see he is an elite talent in waiting. Obviously he scored that winner in August at Newcastle, but I was also impressed last week with his impact off the bench against Leeds. Yes, Liverpool were held 0-0 but Ngumoha was a menace off that left flank as soon as he came on.
You’ll notice that Liverpool also have a very strong bench, which includes Ekitike. A welcome addition for Slot with so many attacking players sidelined.
Team news!
Liverpool: Mamardashvili, Frimpong, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson, Jones, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Chiesa, Gakpo, Ngumoha.
Subs: Alisson, Endo, Konate, Kerkez, Wirtz, Ekitike, Gravenberch, Nyoni, Ramsay.
Barnsley: Cooper, Watson, Durand de Gevigney, Shepherd, Ogbeta, Phillips, Bland, O’Keeffe, Cleary, Yoganathan, Keillor-Dunn.
Subs: Flavell, Roberts, McGoldrick, Jalo, O’Connell, Gent, Kelly, Barratt, Farrell.
Referee: Farai Hallam (Surrey)
Brian Howard, Barnsley’s hero in 2008, is stood on the Anfield pitch in the exact spot where he scored that winner. He speaks to TNT Sports:
I was chasing the referee because I should have had a penalty and I think I found myself in a position I shouldn’t have been in.
There was a little bit of skill and a bit of luck [to get around Xabi Alonso] but then I managed to sneak it in the corner. Jamie Carragher blocked off the far corner but I found the near post. I got Xabi Alonso’s shirt after the match, I asked to get Steven Gerrard’s but he had promised it to someone else. But nobody got it!
On the way back, we all got back off the coach and had a beer with the fans in the pub before going to celebrate with our families.
The fourth-round draw has just been completed. Liverpool or Barnsley will play for the right to play Brighton.
There are some tasty ties: Chelsea are off to Hull City (Liam Rosenior’s former side), Aston Villa host Newcastle and Macclesfield are at home again to Premier League opposition in Brentford.
Join Mark Dobson for the latest and live reaction to all the draws.
Preamble
Shortly before his Barnsley side took on Liverpool in the FA Cup, back in February 2008, Simon Davey took a pensive walk around the city. “I left the team hotel for a walk in the town centre and as I was talking a bird shat right on my head,” the Tykes manager revealed after his side’s famous 2-1 victory at Anfield. “I was hoping it could be a lucky omen because that’s what they say, and it was.”
With the Yorkshire club set to repeat their visit to Anfield, it is worth remembering that legendary victory. Liverpool’s side was almost full strength – Itandje, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise, Benayoun, Lucas (Gerrard 75), Alonso, Babel (Kewell 69), Kuyt, Crouch – while Barnsley had to bring in goalkeeper Luke Steele in on an emergency loan just two days before the game. While Steele’s heroics on debut helped Barnsley into the sixth round, Charles Itandje had a shocker at the other end in one of Rafa Benítez’s few changes. Brian Howard’s spectacular late winner, coming moments after the Barnsley captain was denied a stonewall penalty, send the away fans into delirium.
Buoyed by that result and another shock win over Chelsea in the quarter-final, Barnsley were narrowly beaten by Cardiff City in the semi-finals. These days, they are mid-table in League One, so a result today against the Premier League champions seems even more unlikely, but Arne Slot found out last year at Plymouth Argyle what a tricky competition this can be, as he was punished for changing all 10 outfield players for the fourth-round tie at Home Park.
The Liverpool manager has already promised not to repeat the mistakes of last season by fielding a strong squad here. “I can guarantee you that on Monday you will see all the players you saw against Arsenal, maybe with some substitutions, but then they will be on the bench,” said Slot in the build up to this game. “So that’s going to be different than last season against Plymouth.”
Barnsley will not be fazed, they have faced strong Liverpool sides before. History (or potentially a thrashing) beckons.
Kick-off: 7.45pm GMT.
