Accrington Stanley vs Liverpool simulated to get an FA Cup score prediction
A new competition begins for Liverpool later today, with the Reds kicking off their FA Cup campaign against League Two Accrington Stanley.
It's been a hard week for Liverpool – something which has been tough to say since Arne Slot's arrival – with the Reds being held to a 2-2 draw against Manchester United in the Premier League before losing 1-0 to Tottenham in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals midweek. But, it's from one cup competition to the other this weekend for Liverpool, with Slot's side hosting Accrington later today.
Liverpool's FA Cup journey came to an end in the quarter-finals last year following a 4-3 loss to Manchester United. Slot is expected to heavily rotate his squad for the FA Cup clash, with the Reds dealing with a few injury issues ahead of the trip to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League next week.
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So, can Liverpool complete the double over Manchester United later today? Let's take a look...
Liverpool vs Accrington Stanley FA Cup score predicted
To complete this simulation, we used EA FC 25 and updated the squads with the latest injuries and suspensions.
We predict that Liverpool could line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their starting XI as follows: Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Quansah, Tsimikas; Morton, Endo; Chiesa, Elliott, Diaz; Nunez.
We predict that the visitors could set up in a 3-4-1-2 formation, with their line-up as follows: Crellin; Aljofree, Rawson, Awe; Love, Coyle, Khumbeni, Woods; Whalley; Walton, Costelloe.
Sometimes against lower-league opposition, it can prove a tough task to break them down, but that wasn't the case at Anfield, where Liverpool took the lead inside two minutes. Darwin Nunez got the better of his marker to latch onto a long ball from Ibrahima Konate, and a tidy finish saw him fire his shot through the legs of the 'keeper to make it 1-0 early on. From there, the dominance continued, and after 14 minutes, Nunez had a brace.
Kostas Tsimikas' driven pass into the middle was flicked forward by Harvey Elliott, with Nunez picking up the ball with his back to goal. A drop of the shoulder saw the striker get away from his marker, and with his left foot, he found the far corner to make it 2-0 early on.
Just before half-time, Liverpool put the game out of sight, with Harvey Elliott finishing off a well-worked team move with a header at the back post following a smart, lofted cross by Luis Diaz. Accrington hit the post just three minutes after the restart with an ambitious free-kick, but any hope of a comeback was cancelled out in the 64th minute when Elliott got his second and the Reds' fourth.
As Slot's side camped around the Accrington box, some neat footwork from Elliott saw him dance past two challenges before breaking into the box. His pass forward to Nunez was blocked, but the ball fortunately fell back into his path as he rifled his shot past the 'keeper at the near post.
A host of substitutions were made after the fourth goal from Liverpool, and almost instantly the Reds grabbed a fifth, with Federico Chiesa's floated cross towards the back post being prodded home by substitute James McConnell. Liverpool's attacking threat was too much for the visitors to handle, and the victory was topped off with a sixth in the 89th minute.
Involved once again, Chiesa beat his man down the right before firing a pass into the feet of Diogo Jota. The striker cut onto his left before shooting at goal, and his effort caught out the 'keeper as the Reds eased their way to the next round of the FA Cup.
