Liverpool to play Southampton as next FA Cup opponent finally confirmed

Liverpool will host Southampton in the fifth round of the FA Cup, following a 3-0 victory in their replay with Watford on Tuesday night.

The Reds were drawn against the winner of Watford vs. Southampton at half-time of their 5-2 win over Norwich in the FA Cup fourth round, but faced a wait to learn their opponent.

With the Championship outfits playing out a 1-1 draw in the initial tie, they went to a replay at St Mary’s on Tuesday night.

That resulted in a 3-0 win for Southampton, who will now head to Anfield for an 8pm kickoff (GMT) on Wednesday, February 28.

The tie falls three days after the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea and three days before Liverpool’s trip to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.

It will be the first time Liverpool have faced Southampton since a strange 4-4 at St Mary’s on the final day of the Premier League last season, and will be their 20th meeting of Jurgen Klopp‘s tenure.

Southampton are now managed by Russell Martin, who was appointed in June following impressive spells in charge of MK Dons and Swansea.

Martin’s side are currently second in the Championship, 11 points off leaders Leicester, with Adam Armstrong their top scorer for the season so far.

Kyle Walker-Peters, Gavin Bazunu, Jan Bednarek and Stuart Armstrong are among the most familiar names in Martin’s squad, and are all important players.

Liverpool are hoping to make it a second trip to Wembley this season as their FA Cup campaign continues, having already overcome Arsenal and Norwich in the previous rounds.

The Reds have had six different goalscorers in this season’s competition, with Diogo Jota, Curtis Jones, Ryan Gravenberch, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Virgil van Dijk all finding the back of the net once.

Alisson and Jarell Quansah are the only players to feature in every minute of the two games so far.