AHEAD of Liverpool’s FA Cup fourth round clash against Wolves, we spoke to season ticket holder and reporter at the Express and Star, Heather Large, to get the latest on the Reds’ upcoming opponents.
Firstly, Wolves are 18th in the Championship and their form looks patchy at the moment, with two wins in their last five, how have the team been performing?
It’s fair to say it’s been a mixed season, but that’s quite normal for Wolves. In some matches, such as the local derby against Aston Villa a fortnight ago and Fulham at home in December, we’ve played very well and looked in control.
But, at other times we’ve struggled. One of the biggest problems has been our defence. We’ve made far too many silly errors at the back, which teams have been able to exploit to their advantage.
Paul Lambert has been in charge since the start of November now, how much of an impact has he had at the club?
After the initial buzz of Walter Zenga’s appointment and our summer spending, it soon became clear that, although he had the passion, he didn’t really understand what was required for Championship football. We had talented players but they weren’t really playing together as a team. Defeat after defeat was also affecting our confidence.
Lambert seems to have lifted the spirits and has managed to get us playing as a team rather than 11 individuals. We’re still very much ‘work in progress’ but I think we are in a much better place than we were this time last season.
He has been quoted as saying that Wolves have ‘nothing to lose’ against Liverpool, does this mean we’re likely to see his side attacking with some intent at Anfield?
Let’s hope so! Traditionally, we always play better against stronger sides and then fall apart against those that, on paper, we should beat.
Lambert is right we’re definitely the underdog and so we might as well go out there and throw everything at Liverpool.
Wolves have already knocked out a Premier League side away from home, in Stoke City, are fans confident of another upset?
As Wolves fans, we never really know what to expect. If you had asked me before the Stoke game, I don’t think I would have predicted us winning, so who knows.
We will want to put last weekend’s disappointing defeat against Norwich City behind us so that might spur the players on even more.
As long as we give it our all and don’t sit back and let Liverpool attack, I’m sure most fans will be happy whatever the outcome.
Helder Costa has been the team’s top scorer this campaign, how good has he been?
Costa has been immense this season and in most games has been by far our best player. He brings energy and creativity to every game.
One player Liverpool fans do know about is Conor Coady, how likely is he to make some form of impact?
He switched to right-back for the Villa game which seemed to suit him well. On a good day, he’s one of our strongest players.
The Reds go into this on a pretty poor run of form, is that something you think could be a boost to the opposition on Saturday?
Liverpool are still a very good side so I don’t think we should be underestimating them at all. But, if there was a time for us to beat them then this could be it.
I still haven’t forgotten losing 3-0 to Liverpool in the 2011-12 season, so it would be fantastic if we could snatch a win or bring them back to Molineux.
Finally, how do you expect the game to pan out?
I’ll probably regret this but I’m going to be super confident and predict us to win 2-1.
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Bang on with the prediction!