Liverpool Fc Likely FA Cup 2020-21 Opponents and Rules Changes

After beating the hosts Aston Villa Fc that were packed with Youth Players, Liverpool Fc has progressed to the Fourth Round of the FA Cup 2020-21.

Arsenal Fc (The Gunners) are the Defending FA Cup Champions after beating Chelsea Fc (The Blues) 2-1 in Last Season’s FA Cup Final. The Gunners holds the record of winning the most FA Cups with 14 trophies.

Despite winning their last FA Cup in May 2006, Liverpool Fc (The Reds) has won the FA Cup 7 Times. The Reds has not been in an FA Cup Final since May 2012 after losing to the Blues 2-1.

Unlike the previous FA Cup Competitions, this Season’s FA Cup will be fast-tracked due to the Fixture pile-up caused by the COVID-19 Lockdown.

The FA decided to condense the Fourth and Fifth Round Draw Ceremonies into a Single Event. As such, the draws for the fourth and fifth rounds will be conducted together on 11 January 2021.

The draws will be conducted live beginning with the Fourth Round Draw at approximately 7:10 p.m and at approximately 7:23 p.m. will be the draw for the Fifth Round.

After the Teams for the Fourth Round has been drawn, the Fifth Round Draw Ball numbers will be generated.

Following are the FA Cup 2020-21 Tournament Breakdown.

To ease pressure on the Football Calendar caused due to the COVID-19, some of the Rules Changes for the FA Cup 2020-21 are:

• Cup Replays were scrapped ahead of the 2020-21 Season from all Rounds
• Matches that end in a draw will go to Extra Time instead of Match Replays
• Penalty Shootout will take place, if the Scoreline remain level after Extra Time
• Teams are permitted to name up to 9 Players on their bench
• Teams can also make a maximum of 4 Substitutions and have 3 opportunities to do so during the match

There are several conflicting reports regarding the event of a Club being unable to fulfil their FA Cup Fixture due to COVID-19, yet the FA has yet to make an announcement on this particular issue.

Verdict: Under Jürgen Klopp, the Reds have an abysmal record in FA Cup competitions and the Club have never progressed past the Fifth Round.

Last season, the Reds were dumped out of the competition after losing 2-0 to the hosts Blues in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup 2019-20 Competition.

The condensed nature of the FA Cup 2020-21 especially with no replays presents a perfect opportunity for Klopp to win his first Domestic Cup competition.

The Charismatic German came close to winning the Carabao Cup 2015-16 in February 2016 but unfortunately the Reds lost to Manchester City Fc on Penalty Shootouts in the Finals.

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