Key events
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12 min: Ngumoha spins elegantly down the left and feeds Tsimikas, who rolls a pass across the face of the Stanley box. Szoboszlai dummies for Alexander-Arnold, who drives low and hard towards the bottom left. Crellin in the Stanley goal saves with his feet, but the ball lands with Nunez, who blazes over. Now that’s a poor miss.
11 min: Liverpool stroke it around patiently. No rush.
9 min: Stanley are employing a brave high press. Liverpool require all their smarts to play out from the back. This time they need a cute, if slightly dangerous, Tsimikas crossfield lob to do so.
7 min: Tsimikas curls long from the left. Elliott lunges in from the right and extends a leg to hook the ball back into the middle, where Nunez heads over the bar from close range. That’s not as bad as it sounds: he was leaning back and stretching every neck muscle to reach a ball that was just too high.
5 min: Another intriguing dribble from Ngumoha, who cuts in from the left but doesn’t notice a couple of red shirts in space on the other flank. The young man still earns a warm round of applause.
3 min: Elliot probes down the right; Ngumoha has his first dribble in a Liverpool shirt down the left. Nothing doing on either side. Stanley attempt to counter, blootering long for Walton, but Endo wins the duel again.
2 min: Tsimikas looks long for Szoboszlai down the left. For a second it looks like Szoboszlai will get in, but Rawson comes across to put a stop to his gallop. Fine covering.
1 min: A long ball down the Stanley right. Walton competes with Endo but the makeshift Liverpool centre-back – who has plenty of experience in the position from his Bundesliga days, to be fair – ushers the ball out for a goal kick.
Accrington Stanley get the ball rolling. They’re kicking towards the Kop in this first half. “Who wouldn’t be delighted with a defensive line filled with Love and Awe?” coos Dean Kinsella.
The teams are out! Anfield crisp, clear and cold. And loud. A beautiful day on Merseyside but not one you’d want to experience without a big coat. Liverpool in red. Accrington Stanley, who also usually play in red, are today in blue. Everyone looking real fine. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
Stanley captain Shaun Whalley is asked by ITV’s Gabriel Clarke about the possibility of scoring a goal at the Kop end. A broad smile immediately plays across his face. “Yeah I’d love that,” Whalley replies. Then, with a twinkle in the eye, he adds: “I probably wouldn’t celebrate to be honest. I’ve got too many mates in there!” A laugh as he walks off, dreaming of all possibilities. The magic of the cup, right there.
Accrington Stanley manager John Doolan speaks to ITV. “Just excitement … you can see the drive in them … it’s a fantastic day … we just want to get going … it’s special, isn’t it … the lads who got us three points last week get the shirt … you can’t go on sentiment … [former Liverpool academy player Liam Coyle] is a fantastic player and I’m sure he’ll get on the pitch at some point … you’ve got to do a professional job … Liverpool are a fantastic team … we’ve got to try to impose our game on them … look after the ball a bit better … match them and see where that takes us … we have a game-plan … we’ll do our best.”
Arne Slot speaks to ITV. “Almost any other country the cup isn’t that special … everyone knows the cup means a bit more than it does … it’s a special game for us … many players who start haven’t played much for us … I understand there’s a bit more excitement in the away dressing room than the home dressing room … but I’m hoping and expecting that our players want to prove a point as well … most of them haven’t played that much recently … there aren’t many options … [Dominik] Szoboszlai has been out ill … so that’s why we start him … the reason for Trent [Alexander-Arnold] is that Conor [Bradley] comes back with a hamstring injury and two days ago we played a game … so I didn’t feel it was the right thing to do to play Conor again … it’s always special when young players make a debut … so there’s a smile on my face … Rio Ngumoha is not afraid to do what he’s good at … one on ones.”
He’s also asked about the return of David Moyes over the other side of Stanley Park. “It’s always a pity when a manager has to leave … I was a bit surprised because [Sean Dyche] had a few good results … a few draws nobody expected … but David Moyes is always special because of what he did for Everton … he was also successful at West Ham … so it’s good to have him back … but it’s always a pity that someone who in my opinion did really well is out of a job now.”
Liverpool hand a debut to 16-year-old attacker Rio Ngumoha. At 16 years and 135 days, he’ll become Liverpool’s youngest-ever starter. Trent Alexander-Arnold is given an opportunity to play himself back into form – he was decent coming on as a sub in the League Cup semi at Spurs, to be fair – but fellow contract negotiators Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk are both rested. Eyebrows may be risen at Ngumoha getting in ahead of Federico Chiesa, who is on the bench, though the young man was one of the Guardian’s Next Generation talents of 2024.
Accrington Stanley name an unchanged side following their 2-0 win at Colchester United. Captain Shaun Whalley scored both goals in that match, plus another in Stanley’s previous game, a 3-2 home win over Grimsby Town. Striker Josh Woods is a Liverpool supporter whose boyhood idols were Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
The teams
Liverpool: Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, Endo, Tsimikas, Morton, Szoboszlai, Elliott, Jota, Ngumoha, Nunez.
Subs: Jaros, Diaz, Mac Allister, Chiesa, Robertson, McConnell, Danns, Bradley, Nyoni.
Accrington Stanley: Crellin, Love, Rawson, Awe, Ben Woods, Khumbeni, Martin, Josh Woods, Hunter, Whalley, Walton.
Subs: Kelly, Coyle, Mooney, Henderson, Knowles, Batty, Aljofree, Conneely, O’Brien.
Referee: Lewis Smith (Lancashire).
This feels a bit too on the nose, putting a hat on a hat, but today is National Milk Day in the USA. A national holiday second only to Thanksgiving, it’s observed to mark the day in 1878 when milk was first delivered in glass bottles sealed with waxed paper, and to celebrate the crucial role the United States Department of Agriculture plays in ensuring US milk is the best in class. Can’t help thinking Accrington Stanley and the FA marketing bods have missed an official-partner trick here. Make America Lactate Again?
Preamble
During the 1970s, nearly all sales of milk in the UK were handled by independent neighbourhood milkmen. The friendly face of dairies across the land, they would do the rounds each morning in their cart, leaving pint bottles full of delicious creamy goodness on every doorstep. It was an environmentally sound system too: the bottles were reusable and the milk cart was electric. Great! But now those days are long gone. What did for poor old Milky? What happened to him? Mr Sainsbury, Mr Morrison, Mr Tesco, Mr Asda, Mr Tesco Express and Mr Sainsbury’s Savacentre, the big bullies, is what happened, with supermarkets and other stores now accounting for over 95% of milk sales. And so, upon watching this fondly remembered and oft-quoted old advert, several generations of calcium-and-micro-economics fans can be forgiven for innocently asking …
… “Unigate Dairies? Who are they?” Exactly. Meanwhile in other nutrient-rich-beverage-related news, the football club once slandered by the Milk Marketing Board travel to Anfield for a proper old-school David v Goliath third-round FA Cup tie. Kick-off is at 12.15pm GMT. It’s on! Watch out!
