Aston Villa Post Reminder Of FA Cup Team From Last Season At Worst Time For Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp's side have had their Carabao Cup game with Arsenal postponed due to Covid cases but it wasn't the case for Villa a year ago.
Liverpool have got their Carabao Cup semi final with Arsenal on Thursday evening delayed, but were also handed an untimely reminder by Aston Villa.
Liverpool were without Jurgen Klopp for their epic draw against Chelsea on the weekend thanks to Covid, with assistant Pep Lijnders stepping in.
The assistant manager, as well as several players, have now joined the manager in having a positive test, leaving them short of players for the first leg of the semi final.
With the Reds also missing some players on national duty at the African Cup of Nations, the club have requested that the game is postponed, and now had it accepted, however, they've been given a timely reminder of when that wasn't allowed.
Last season Liverpool played Villa in the third round of the FA Cup and, thanks to a Covid outbreak for the midlands side, their team wasn't exactly first choice.
Villa posted an untimely reminder of the game on Twitter, in which 16 players made their debuts, in which seven members of the under 23 and four from the under 18 teams started the game.
The relatively unknown Villa youngsters, whose shirt numbers added up to 609, didn't far as badly as many might have, against a Liverpool team that included Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, amongst other first teamers.
Whilst Klopp's side took a fourth minute lead through Sane, Villa were actually level at half time through local lad Louie Barry.
The 17-year-old was one of four of his age in the XI, with one 16-year-old also starting, and broke free from Rhys Williams to brilliantly slot home just before the break.
Fans of rival clubs to Liverpool have also pointed out the precedent in the Carabao Cup set last season when Leyton Orient had to forfeit a game against Tottenham Hotspur.
However at the time the rounds were played on back-to-back weeks and there was no time to postpone the match to a later date so the criteria were different, and even changed in the following round after Orient's forfeit.
Liverpool also have history with fielding a weakened team in the Carabao Cup, when they chose to pick an under 23s team against Villa in December 2019.
The senior team, along with Jurgen Klopp, were getting ready for the Club World Cup, and the youngsters lost 5-0 to Villa.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Premier League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Arsenal, Jurgen Klopp
Ryan Sidle