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| Blackburn Rovers v Liverpool: FA Cup quarter-final replay – live! | Blackburn Rovers v Liverpool: FA Cup quarter-final replay – live! |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 8.24pm BST20:24 | |
| 36 min: Sterling has a chance to shoot from just outside the left-hand corner off the box. Instead he spots Coutinho free on the far side and feeds him with a clever pass. The Brazilian tries to cut the ball into the danger zone but Kilgallon read his intentions well and cleared. | |
| 8.23pm BST20:23 | |
| 34 min: Eastwood pushes the ball around the post from a Coutinho shot after panic breaks out in the Blackburn box when Williamson fluffed an attempted clearance of a Liverpool corner! | |
| 8.22pm BST20:22 | |
| 31 min: For those asking about Liverpool’s formation, it seems to be a 4-5-1 when Liverpool don’t have the ball (with Sturridge being the one), morphing into some manner of fluid 4-4-2 when they are in possession, with Sturridge and Sterling both starting out wide and moving into central areas when appropriate. Which is to say, you wouldn’t want to read too much into formations here. | |
| Updated at 8.23pm BST | |
| 8.18pm BST20:18 | |
| 29 min: Williamson escapes with a telling-off after a UFC-style knee to the back of Coutinho’s head. He was going for the ball, but in a reckless and dangerous way. Either Kevin Friend didn’t see it properly or he was off sick from referee school on the day they covered acrobatic lunges from behind. | |
| 8.14pm BST20:14 | |
| Liverpool substitution: Sakho off, Touré on. | |
| 8.14pm BST20:14 | |
| 26 min: Having survived the opening portion of the game, Blackburn are starting to show some enterprise. Rhodes nods just over from 10 yards following a cross from the left. The striker was free because Sakho was immobilised by a hamstring strain. He’ll have to be replaced. So Lovren-Touré duo is about to set sail on another adventure ... | |
| 8.11pm BST20:11 | |
| 23 min: Patient build-up by Liverpool, who are not being given any easy routes to goal by the diligent Blackburn defender. Suddenly Coutinho spots a chink of opportunity and pings a cute ball through to Sturridge. But the striker’s miscontrols and the opportunity perishes. | |
| 8.07pm BST20:07 | |
| 20 min: The pressure is building from Liverpool, who keep tearing forward in an imaginative whirr. Sturridge, playing wide of Sterling, has looked as lively as anyone. He worried Eastwood just now with a crack from 20 yards that flew inches over the bar. | |
| Updated at 8.07pm BST | |
| 8.04pm BST20:04 | |
| 18 min: Liverpool send a corner deep towards Coutinho, who peeled away from the throng in the middle of the box. The Brazilian kills the ball nicely on his chest but his volley is then blocked by a defender. | |
| 8.03pm BST20:03 | |
| 15 min: Henderson makes a dash foward and receives the ball off Sturridge via a foxy flick. The captain then tries to thread a pass through to Sterling, but it’s fractionally too long. Promising move, though. | |
| 8.01pm BST20:01 | |
| 13 min: So Liverpool lasted 13 minutes before encouraging Blackburn with some dodgy defending! The hosts launched a long freekick towards the area from the left. Sakho let it bounce and then tried to shepherd it through to Mignolet, who was showing no inclination to come for it. Conway tried to take advantage of the defender’s dithering but Sakho recovered sufficiently to poke the ball to safety. | |
| Updated at 8.23pm BST | |
| 7.59pm BST19:59 | |
| 11 min: Blackburn threaten for the first time with a promising move. But the cross from the left towards the back post was fractionally too long for Rhodes. “When he mentioned about three of four at the back, was Brendan referring to the number of goals they’ll concede?” wonders Pumpkin Head. “Seems a bit of a coincidence that they’ve let in three and four in their last two games. I’m sure Blackburn would be happy with either.” Turns out it’s a back four: not sure why Rodgers wanted to play the mysterious in the pre-match interview. | |
| 7.56pm BST19:56 | |
| 8 min: Sterling collects the ball down the left and attempts to dribble between two defenders but is foiled. He is also being booed by some home fans. Could they be angry that he has not signed a new contract for Liverpool? Is this just another case of fans booing another team’s player because he is too good for their liking? Does it make any darn sense at all? meanwhile, Ian Harris wants to pull me up on a serious cake gaffe: “Battenburg is in quarter, whereas Blackburn’s kit is in halves - a sort of underwhelming surf’n’turf.” | |
| Updated at 8.09pm BST | |
| 7.53pm BST19:53 | |
| 6 min: A pattern is definitely emerging now: Liverpool are fizzing the ball around with aplomb. And Sterling nearly crowned another move with a goal, whacking a decent try just wide from 20 yards. | |
| 7.52pm BST19:52 | |
| 5 min: After an encouraging but of interplay by Liverpool, henderson clips a high ball towards Sturridhe in the box. A defender gets to it first but does not make a firm headed connection, and Allen shows his alertness by darting into the box to bounce on the breaking ball. But he slashes his half-volley wide from 16 yards. | |
| 7.50pm BST19:50 | |
| 3 min: No pattern has emerged to the play yet, with neither side helped by the bobbliness of the pitch. Is bobbliness a word? It is now. | |
| 7.48pm BST19:48 | 7.48pm BST19:48 |
| 1 min: Blackburn kick off but quickly lose possession. At this point let me apologise in advance if I fail to correctly identify players, as BT’s camera appears to be perched around about the same place that Felix Baumgartner jumped from a while back. | 1 min: Blackburn kick off but quickly lose possession. At this point let me apologise in advance if I fail to correctly identify players, as BT’s camera appears to be perched around about the same place that Felix Baumgartner jumped from a while back. |
| Updated at 7.48pm BST | Updated at 7.48pm BST |
| 7.46pm BST19:46 | 7.46pm BST19:46 |
| The teams file out on to the pitch. Blackburn are clad in their blue and white Battenberg cake number, while Liverpool are wearing the same colour red as the poison apple given to Snow White. Coincidence? Yeah, probably. | The teams file out on to the pitch. Blackburn are clad in their blue and white Battenberg cake number, while Liverpool are wearing the same colour red as the poison apple given to Snow White. Coincidence? Yeah, probably. |
| 7.34pm BST19:34 | 7.34pm BST19:34 |
| Speaking on TV, Rodgers has explained that Balotelli is not playing tonight because, after travelling with the team last night, he fell ill and had to go home. As for tonight’s defensive line-up, Rodgers, unlike the defence on Saturday, is giving nothing away: “You’ll wait and see if it’s a three or a four.” | Speaking on TV, Rodgers has explained that Balotelli is not playing tonight because, after travelling with the team last night, he fell ill and had to go home. As for tonight’s defensive line-up, Rodgers, unlike the defence on Saturday, is giving nothing away: “You’ll wait and see if it’s a three or a four.” |
| Updated at 7.35pm BST | Updated at 7.35pm BST |
| 7.18pm BST19:18 | 7.18pm BST19:18 |
| While Sturridge is seemingly fit enough to start, there is no sign of Mario Balotelli, who has perhaps not recovered from the knock that led him to rule himself out of the Arsenal match on Saturday. It would have been interesting to eavesdrop on conversations between the striker and Brendan Rodgers since then, as the manager did not seem best pleased when discussing the matter on Saturday. Meanwhile, Gary Bowyer has just told BT Sport that Gestede is fit enough to be unleashed from the bench “with 20 to go” if required ... | While Sturridge is seemingly fit enough to start, there is no sign of Mario Balotelli, who has perhaps not recovered from the knock that led him to rule himself out of the Arsenal match on Saturday. It would have been interesting to eavesdrop on conversations between the striker and Brendan Rodgers since then, as the manager did not seem best pleased when discussing the matter on Saturday. Meanwhile, Gary Bowyer has just told BT Sport that Gestede is fit enough to be unleashed from the bench “with 20 to go” if required ... |
| Updated at 7.21pm BST | Updated at 7.21pm BST |
| 7.04pm BST19:04 | 7.04pm BST19:04 |
| So, in the time since the preamble was written - who knows, possibly even after reading the preamble - the teams have been unveiled and it looks like a double dose of good news for Liverpool. Well, the first bit is definitely good for them: Rudy Gestede is apparently not fit enough to start. As for the second bit - that Touré has been left out and Liverpool seem to be reverting to a four-man rearguard - we’ll have to wait and see how that goes ... | So, in the time since the preamble was written - who knows, possibly even after reading the preamble - the teams have been unveiled and it looks like a double dose of good news for Liverpool. Well, the first bit is definitely good for them: Rudy Gestede is apparently not fit enough to start. As for the second bit - that Touré has been left out and Liverpool seem to be reverting to a four-man rearguard - we’ll have to wait and see how that goes ... |
| 6.45pm BST18:45 | 6.45pm BST18:45 |
| Preamble: | Preamble: |
| Hello and welcome to tonight’s coverage of Blackburn Rovers’ attempt to pull off a glorious feat while plunging Liverpool into turmoil. This, ladies, gentleman and trolls, won’t be boring. It could be anything from uplifting to downright hilarious. | Hello and welcome to tonight’s coverage of Blackburn Rovers’ attempt to pull off a glorious feat while plunging Liverpool into turmoil. This, ladies, gentleman and trolls, won’t be boring. It could be anything from uplifting to downright hilarious. |
| It was just three weeks ago that Brendan Rodgers was talking up his team’s chances of reaching second in the Premier League and now there is a greater probability of them dropping to seventh, the position in which they finished in the season before last year’s breathtaking title challenge. So Rodgers, whose contribution to the Anfield trophy cabinet has so far consisted of hiring dinky technicians to give it an occasional scrub, craves the first bauble of his reign in order to prove he is making progress. The FA Cup is his only remaining hope this season. The pressure is on. Get knocked out and Rodgers will face all sorts of questions, especially about his past and future recruitment and his club’s ability to hang on to Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson and realistic aspirations of returning to the Champions League. By contrast, win tonight and Rodgers will face the same questions but at least he’ll be closer to having some silverware with which to try to shield himself from any criticism and admire his reflection. | It was just three weeks ago that Brendan Rodgers was talking up his team’s chances of reaching second in the Premier League and now there is a greater probability of them dropping to seventh, the position in which they finished in the season before last year’s breathtaking title challenge. So Rodgers, whose contribution to the Anfield trophy cabinet has so far consisted of hiring dinky technicians to give it an occasional scrub, craves the first bauble of his reign in order to prove he is making progress. The FA Cup is his only remaining hope this season. The pressure is on. Get knocked out and Rodgers will face all sorts of questions, especially about his past and future recruitment and his club’s ability to hang on to Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson and realistic aspirations of returning to the Champions League. By contrast, win tonight and Rodgers will face the same questions but at least he’ll be closer to having some silverware with which to try to shield himself from any criticism and admire his reflection. |
| This season Rodgers has, of course, already demonstrated an impressive ability to deal with awkward questions – remember this? – and he has shown an admirable capacity to come up with an answer to his side’s shambolic start to the campaign. That sorry start went on much longer than the spell of inadequacy that they are currently enduring, with the defeats to Manchester United and Arsenal, chastening though they were, not being enough to declare the Rodgers project kaputt, even if they did expose shortcomings that need to be addressed. So there is a fair chance that Liverpool will get back into their groove tonight and assert their attacking flair, especially against a Championship side shorn of several key players. But there is also a strong chance that Blackburn will overcome their own problems to show their resourcefulness and expose Liverpool’s brittleness. What is certain is that the home team’s manager, Gary Bowyer, will instruct his players to bombard a Liverpool defence and goalkeeper that must be riddled with doubt unless they haven’t been paying attention in recent weeks, which, come to think of it, is not impossible. | This season Rodgers has, of course, already demonstrated an impressive ability to deal with awkward questions – remember this? – and he has shown an admirable capacity to come up with an answer to his side’s shambolic start to the campaign. That sorry start went on much longer than the spell of inadequacy that they are currently enduring, with the defeats to Manchester United and Arsenal, chastening though they were, not being enough to declare the Rodgers project kaputt, even if they did expose shortcomings that need to be addressed. So there is a fair chance that Liverpool will get back into their groove tonight and assert their attacking flair, especially against a Championship side shorn of several key players. But there is also a strong chance that Blackburn will overcome their own problems to show their resourcefulness and expose Liverpool’s brittleness. What is certain is that the home team’s manager, Gary Bowyer, will instruct his players to bombard a Liverpool defence and goalkeeper that must be riddled with doubt unless they haven’t been paying attention in recent weeks, which, come to think of it, is not impossible. |
| 6.45pm BST18:45 | 6.45pm BST18:45 |
| Teams: | Teams: |
| Blackburn: Eastwood; Henley, Baptiste, Kilgallon, Olsson; Conway, Williamson, Evans, Marshall, Cairney; Rhodes. | Blackburn: Eastwood; Henley, Baptiste, Kilgallon, Olsson; Conway, Williamson, Evans, Marshall, Cairney; Rhodes. |
| Subs: Spurr, Songo’o, Lenihan. Steele, Mahoney. Gestede, Nyambe | Subs: Spurr, Songo’o, Lenihan. Steele, Mahoney. Gestede, Nyambe |
| Liverpool: Mignolet; Johnson, Lovren, Sakho, Moreno; Lucas, Allen, Henderson; Sterling, Coutinho, Sturridge. | Liverpool: Mignolet; Johnson, Lovren, Sakho, Moreno; Lucas, Allen, Henderson; Sterling, Coutinho, Sturridge. |
| Subs: Jones, Touré, Lambert, Manquillo, Borini, Brannagan, Markovic | Subs: Jones, Touré, Lambert, Manquillo, Borini, Brannagan, Markovic |
| Updated at 7.15pm BST | Updated at 7.15pm BST |