Liverpool vs Accrington Stanley LIVE: FA Cup team news and line-ups as minnows take on Premier League leaders

Accrington Stanley have progressed from each of their last four FA Cup third round ties, with these coming in 2009-10, 2016-17, 2018-19 and 2022-23.

“The frustration was purely on the pitch. After the game you can’t do anything about it any more and unfortunately for us, it ended up with him scoring the winner,” Virgil van Dijk said after Tottenham defeated the Reds 1-0 in the Carabao Cup druing the week.

“It doesn’t work like that. We don’t need that motivation. We know we will be 1-0 down when the game is played at Anfield so we have to fight.

“We have to do it all together, with our fans and the players. Obviously, hopefully everyone is fit and let’s see if we can do it. It will be tough because they are a very good team in my opinion, with a very good manager but we’re going to go for it.

“We’re in a semi-final [Carabao Cup], we know how much they would like to win it but I know for a fact we would love to win it again and maybe even more.”

Virgil van Dijk insisted Liverpool would not use Lucas Bergvall’s contentious late winner for Tottenham as motivation ahead of next month’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg.

Liverpool tasted defeat under Arne Slot for the first time since September on Wednesday after Bergvall fired home in the 86th minute to give Spurs a 1-0 victory, moments after he avoided a second yellow card for a late tackle on Kostas Tsimikas.

“A surprise inclusion, in Trent Alexander-Arnold, and a surprise exclusion, in Federico Chiesa.

“If the vice-captain was not expected to start against Accrington, the summer signing definitely was. The fact Chiesa is only on the bench suggests that he is not fully fit; the problem for Liverpool is that he rarely has been since his summer arrival from Juventus.

“But there could be one winger worth watching, in 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha, a summer signing from Chelsea and who becomes Liverpool’s youngest player in the FA Cup.”

Liverpool have only been knocked out of the FA Cup at the third round stage once in the last 13 campaigns, losing 2-1 at Wolves in 2018-19.

Liverpool XI: Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Endo, Quansah, Tsimikas; Morton, Szoboszlai, Elliott; Jota, Nunez, Ngumoha

Accrington Stanley XI: Crellin; Love, Rawson, Awe, B, Woods; Martin, Khumbeni; J. Woods, Hunter, Whalley; Walton

Accrington Stanley have lost all three of their FA Cup games against Premier League opponents, with each of these coming in the fourth round of the competition.

Those results were: 1-3 vs Fulham (2010), 0-1 vs Middlesbrough (2017) and 1-3 vs Leeds (2023).

This is the first meeting between Liverpool and Accrington Stanley in all competitions, though the Reds did beat the original Accrington Stanley side 2-0 in the 1955-56 FA Cup third round.

Arne Slot did not use the word, though Jurgen Klopp became quite familiar with it. In two of the German’s last three campaigns, Liverpool challenged for the quadruple.

Two years earlier, they came closer than anyone arguably ever has, reaching the penultimate game of the campaign with a chance of four trophies. They ended 2021-22, however, without the two biggest prizes: runners-up in the Premier League, they became beaten finalists in the Champions League.

It’s that time of year where Premier League managers get totally frustrated over the constant questions about possible incomings and outgoings.

Arne Slot is no different but perhaps has a calmer demeanour than most. He said: “What I make of that is it is January. I think I said it after the West Ham game that don’t disappoint me, please come up with all these clubs and all these players that are in the interest from us or the ones that don’t play a lot for us are going to go somewhere else.

“Yeah, that’s what’s happening now. Nine out of 10 times, 99 times out of 100 times in the end of the window, it’s been clear that almost all of these stories weren’t true.

“So, what can I comment about it? That the rumours keep going for it, but no comments from my side.”