Liverpool have been given further incentive to ditch the FA Cup after being drawn with Chelsea in the fifth round if they progress from their replay.
Liverpool have been at the center of an FA Cup controversy after Jurgen Klopp’s comments after his side’s 2-2 draw with Shrewsbury on Sunday. The news that the Reds will have to face Chelsea away in the next round if they go through only further fuels Klopp’s commitment to ditch the tournament.
Klopp caused a media storm when he suggested that he would honor the Premier League winter break and not field any senior players against Shrewsbury at Anfield next week; or manage the game himself.
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Instead, he will field a team of youngsters and have Neil Critchley in charge in exactly the same way as they did for the Carabao Cup quarter-final when the senior side were Qatar for the World Club Cup in December.
Any second thinking on that decision will likely be nipped in the bud by the draw with Chelsea. That trip to Stamford Bridge would fall between the Premier League games with Watford (away) and Bournemouth (home).
It also falls in between the first and second legs of the Champions League last 16 matchup with Atletico Madrid.
In short, it is a busy few weeks for the Reds and additional trip to London would not help the club reach their ultimate goal of a Premier League and Champions League double.
Obviously, we’d all like to see Jordan Henderson lift a treble – not least to stick it to Manchester United – but this may not be the year to do that.
However, the young Reds will not see things this way. Instead players like Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Neco Williams will know if they can see off Shrewsbury at Anfield then they will get the big stage of the glamor tie of the fifth round to show the world what they can do.