One of Saturday’s FA Cup results could have positive repercussions for Liverpool in title race
Liverpool may have been knocked out of the FA Cup seven weeks ago, but one result in the competition this weekend could be warmly welcomed by Reds supporters.
Defeat to Plymouth Argyle in the fourth round last month made it impossible for Arne Slot to win all four trophies in his first season at Anfield, and with his team having since exited the Champions League and lost the Carabao Cup final, it leaves the Premier League as the sole focus for the rest of the season.
With Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United also eliminated from the oldest football tournament which still exits, the door has been left wide open for some less familiar names to potentially etch their name on the trophy.
Saturday FA Cup result could have implications for Liverpool
Crystal Palace were the first team to book their place in this year’s FA Cup semi-finals after they emphatically dispatched fellow capital club Fulham 3-0 at Craven Cottage on Saturday lunchtime, a result which has had an indirect knock-on effect for Liverpool.
The Eagles will be off to Wembley for their last-four clash on the weekend of 26/27 April, which means that their Premier League fixture away to Arsenal (which had been scheduled for that Saturday) will now need to be moved.
FA Cup semi-finals could hand Liverpool fixtures advantage in title race
The relevant authorities have yet to declare when that game at the Emirates Stadium will be played – that decision is set to be made after the other FA Cup semi-finalists become known later today – but Liverpool fans will be hoping that it’s pushed back from its original date rather than brought forward.
Annoyingly, in every other Premier League matchday from now until the first weekend of May, Arsenal will play their fixture before the Reds take to the pitch, handing the Gunners renewed opportunities to narrow the gap on Slot’s side and apply some pressure on us to win if they take all three points.
| Arsenal | Liverpool | |
| Matchday 30 | Fulham (H), Tue 1 April, 7:45pm | Everton (H), Wed 2 April, 8pm |
| Matchday 31 | Everton (A), Sat 5 April, 12:30pm | Fulham (A), Sun 6 April, 2pm |
| Matchday 32 | Brentford (H), Sat 12 April, 5:30pm | West Ham (H), Sun 13 April, 2pm |
| Matchday 33 | Ipswich (A), Sun 20 April, 2pm | Leicester (A), Sun 20 April, 4:30pm |
| Matchday 34 | Crystal Palace (H), TBC | Spurs (H), Sun 27 April, 4:30pm |
| Matchday 35 | Bournemouth (H), Sat 3 May, 5:30pm | Chelsea (A), Sun 4 May, 4:30pm |
There’s a chance that their match against Palace is rescheduled to the midweek prior to the FA Cup semi-finals, which’d give Mikel Arteta’s team the chance to close the gap before we play Tottenham Hotspur on 27 April.
However, should it be put back to a midweek date in May, Liverpool would have the opportunity to widen their advantage even further by beating Spurs on what’ll be a free matchday for Arsenal. If we win all our matches up to then and the Gunners drop two or three points in the meantime, it’d even be the game in which we could mathematically become champions.
The fixture schedulers have done their darndest to try and extend the drama in the title race by constantly giving the north Londoners the chance to play before LFC, but thanks to Palace winning yesterday, those plans have been upturned for at least one weekend.
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