Key events
32 min: Gakpo misses a sitter! Should be 3-1. A delicious ball to the back post from midfield finds Bradley at the far post. he cuts back for Gakpo who had to ride the bounce but scuffed the first-time effort from the six-yard box.
30 min: Again Norwich have their pocket picked in their own half. Gibson this time dallying on the ball. Liverpool swarm and win a corner.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Norwich (Nunez, 28)
Order restored. Norwich’s newfound confidence sees them try to play it out from the back. It’s worked to the left flank but Liverpool steal the ball, move it quickly to Nunez up front. His first touch isn’t great but it’s good enough to give him time to shoot. He finds the bottom corner with a poke of his boot and is wheeling away in celebration
27 min: The crowd has quietened a little bit. Not the Norwich fans behind their own goal. Their players have definitely found an extra step since the goal. They’re battling for 50/50s and not allowing Liverpool to settle. Are they starting the believe?
25 min: McCallum, who launched the counter that created the corner that grabbed the goal, is fouled in his own half. Suddenly Norwich look a little more comfortable on the ball.
Never mind. Liverpool pinch it right back and begin another measured attack
24 min: Another counter from Norwich ends with a swinging cross that’s too close to Alisson. Norwich look sharp in transition.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Norwich (Gibson, 22)
Well then! Who saw that coming. Football, eh? A second corner is swung un and Gibson outmuscles his marker at the near post and gets a shoulder, I think, on the ball. Whatever it hit, it ripples the net and Norwich are level.
21 min: Best play from Norwich so far. A counter down the right frees up McCallum who can’t find Barnes but does pick out Fassnacht. He controls and looks to pick out a teammate. Instead it’s out for a corner.
“Hi Daniel!” hey Joe Pearson, always good to hear from you.
“Looking at Norwich’s squad, I thought ‘Where’s Pukki?’ A quick internet search tells me the Canaries legend now plays for Minnesota United in MLS. Who knew?”
I’m sure he’s glad he’s not here today.
18 min: Liverpool are tenacious. They’re pressing with the sort of ferocity that suggests this is not a gimme fourth round cup tie against a Championship side. Norwich can’t breathe.
17 min: Liverpool are right back at it. A clearance from a byline cross saves Norwich for now.
A word for McConnell. That really was a sumptuous delivery. And on his first start for the club. A moment he’ll never forget. Now to get a goal.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Norwich (Jones, 16)
So easy. What a wonderful ball from McConnell from the right of midfield. Jones needed to place his header at the far post but he was beautifully set up by a pin-point diagonal. Lovely football.
14 min: Norwich reach Liverpool’s box. It started with a Hernandez burst in midfield but ended rather tamely as the cross from the left was easily dealt with.
Liverpool counter and Nunez is half a foot away from sliding in a delicious cross to the back post.
It’s so hard for Norwich. They can’t just sit deep but know they’ could get cut to shreds if they attack. Long day ahead.
12 min: Another shot from Gakpo. or was that a cross? He cut inside the box from the left and had options at the far post. Whatever it was, it clipped a Norwich boot and spooned out for a corner. That comes to nothing though so Liverpool recycle from deep.
10 min: Nunez hits the post. That would have been a stunner. It comes from Norwich losing the ball in their own third. Nunez turned, cleared his feet and unfurled a curler that bounced and bent but couldn’t beat the far post from range.
9 min: Liverpool jinking it around the edge of Norwich’s box. To their credit, the defensive block has held. They manage to push Liverpool back to the half-way line and then force a mistake from Gomez who can’t control on the flank.
7 min: Norwich have the ball for more than 10 seconds. They can’t do anything with it and get about five metres into Liverpool’s territory, but it’s a win, of sorts.
Gakpo has a chance at the far post. He just couldn’t get the bouncing ball under his spell and a wild swipe has it ballooning over the bar.
6 min: It’s attack v defence here. Liverpool get into Norwich’s box with Nunez but his back is to goal so he gets it back into rotation. Eventually Gomez gets on the ball from his flank and fires a stinging low shot that’s deflected for a corner. He had the ‘keeper scrambling though.
4 min: Jones shows some neat feet to find Gakpo on the left from midfield. Nothing doing down that flank so they recycle back to the right. Jota can’t get a cross away. Norwich clear but once again Liverpool win it back immediately.
2 min: Liverpool press high and pinch the ball just outside Norwich’s box. Jota looks to shift it onto his left and it deflects out for a corner. Norwich defend it well but Liverpool win it right back and set again.
1 min: Liverpool with the early ball as you’d expect. A raking diagonal can’t find McConnell, the 18-year-old starting his first game for Liverpool.
Right, away we go!
Henry Chen, following from Taiwan, has some views on the timing of the next round draw:
“How do we feel about draws taking place before all the teams have played? I think there are cases to be made for it.
“I would definitely schedule the draw to be after the last game of the round (not considering replays) since we can at least predict when that’d take place. (replays that go to extra time or penalties are hard to predict for time and thus isn’t great for audiences watching if you were to schedule the draw after a replayed game.)”
The players are making their way out of the tunnel. The crowd are in full voice. Looks like a special occasion at Anfield today.
David Wagner – Norwich’s manager – and Jurgen Klopp – you all know who he is – are seen hugging on the telly.
The former was the best man at the latter’s wedding. Can’t be too many football matches managed by best buddies. Maybe that’s why Wagner has named a weakened side with two goalkeepers on the bench. Surely not. Although…
While we wait, I reckon some more Klopp-gushing won’t hurt.
This one from Liverpool tragic Sachin Nakrani will tug the heart strings of even Everton and Manchester United supporters. Well, maybe not. But the rest of you might get a kick out of this:
Fifth round draw will take place at half-time
Another delay. Apologies to everyone yearning to find out who will get knocked out by Maidstone United in the next round. But you’ll have to wait a little longer.
If you thought Norwich’s winless run against Liverpool in all competitions is long, wait til you hear about the FA Cup fortunes.
1951. That’s when they last beat the Reds in this famous competition. 3-1 in the third round, that was the third consecutive victory over Liverpool in the Cup following a 3-0 win in 1937 and a 3-2 win in 1909. Here’s what Anfield looked like for that first encounter:
How do we feel about draws taking place before all the teams have played? Personally, I don’t like it. It adds a bit of narrative, I suppose, but somehow it feels a little disrespectful. To what or to whom I’m not sure, but something doesn’t quite feel right.
Am I making a mountain out of a molehill?
FA CUP draw delayed
New time is 2:15 pm. Because of the crowd incident at the Hawthorns.
Tom Gould has written in to remind everyone that Norwich were quite good three decades ago:
“It’s worth remembering that the Norwich team that last won against Liverpool had also beaten Inter Milan and Bayern Munich on their respective grounds earlier in the season.
Crowd trouble has delayed the end of Wolves v West Brom.
I’m not sure how that might impact our game, as they’re both on ITV, but will stay on top of things.
A bit more Jurgen Klopp lovin’. This from our chief David Hytner is worth a gander:
Is Jurgen Klopp Liverpool’s greatest ever manager? It’s remarkable he’s even in the conversation.
I’ll let others quibble over the order of merit. For now, let’s take a look at Jonathan Wilson’s piece that explains how the German’s rejuvenation of the Reds has echoes of Bill Shankly’s work:
Do any of you remember the last time Norwich beat Liverpool?
Our reader Andy Flintoff (not that one, he assures me) has out this run in context:
“Norwich’s last win over Liverpool was on the last day of the standing Kop in 94, before it got redeveloped. It’s amazing to think that’s nearly 30 years ago.
“I don’t understand putting two goalkeepers on the bench, unless you’re trying to send a message. It’d make better sense for them to put a youth teamer on the bench – it’s just as unlikely for them to get on the pitch, but it would give them some experience of the atmosphere around first-team games. This might help their development by easing the transition from youth to first team.
Norwich team
I’m not going to claim to be an expert on all things Norwich, but judging by the early comments on social media, this could get nasty.
“If it’s less than a 10-0 loss i’ll be amazed,” said one fan. “It’s our worst team,” said another. It’s a changed line-up, that’s for sure, as if they’ve conceded that even at their best they’re not going to do much damage. Two ‘keepers on the bench does seem odd either way.
Norwich 4-5-1: George Long, Jack Stacey, Grant Hanley, Ben Gibson, Sam McCallum, Christian Fassnacht, Gabriel Sara, Kenny McLean, Onel Hernandez, Marcelo Nunez, Ashley Barnes.
Subs: Borja Sainz, Liam Gibbs, Adam Idah, Jacob Sorensen, Przemyslaw Placheta, Angus Gunn, Dimitris Giannoulis, Kellen Fisher, Caleb Ansen.
Liverpool team
Nunez leads the line hoping to replicate another Uruguayan’s exploits against Norwich. He’ll have help from Jota and Gakpo in a strong looking attack supported by some rookies behind. It’s a strong bench too, just in case things go awry.
Liverpool 4-3-3: Alisson Becker; Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez, Jarell Quansah, Ryan Gravenberch, James McConnell, Curtis Jones, Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota.
Subs: Caoimhin Kelleher, Virgil Van Dijk, Luis Diaz, Dominik Szoboszlai, Harvey Elliott, Andy Robertson, Bobby Clark, Owen Beck, Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
Hello and welcome to Jurgen Klopp’s last ever 4th round FA Cup tie against Norwich at Anfield.
There’s going to be a lot of that sort of stuff in the coming months. For those of you living under a rock, the big man shocked the football world this week by announcing his exit as Liverpool’s manager at the end of the season.
As far as news goes, it doesn’t get much bigger in the sport. He’s won it all, literally, and hauled a limping giant back to the perch of European football. As Jonathan Liew put it, even though he might not be the manager of your club, I reckon most of us secretly wished that he was.
The Premier League, which they lead, will be the priority during this last dance but another Cup win will do rather nicely. So will a statement trouncing of a club that used to be the perennial victim of Luis Suarez.
How Norwich would love to spoil the party. They haven’t beaten Liverpool in their previous 18 meetings. The last time the Canaries triumphed over the Reds was back in April 1994. It happens to be Liverpool’s longest current unbeaten run against any side.
Ninth in the Championship, Norwich are obvious outsiders. But strange things happen in the Cup. And with emotions swirling around Merseyside, the stage is set for an unlikely narrative.
Kick-off at 2:30pm. Teams and updates to follow.