Liverpool can look to Portsmouth for FA Cup final inspiration
Published:Losing to Fulham in their final game before their FA Cup showdown with Chelsea is hardly ideal preparation for Wembley, but 5/4 could still represent fabulous value that Liverpool win a second trophy this season.
Martin Skrtel’s early own goal may have resulted in a depleted Liverpool suffering a disappointing home defeat to Fulham and only one of the last five FA Cup winners had been beaten in their game directly before the final.
Interestingly for Liverpool, this was Portsmouth in 2008 and their defeat was also by a scoreline of 1-0 at home.
Even more ironically, Portsmouth were beaten by Fulham.
The similarities between the Portsmouth team of 2008 and the Liverpool side of now do not end there, with both clubs heading into the cup final in eighth spot in the Premier League standings.
Meanwhile, Glen Johnson will be well versed to offer a pep talk in the Liverpool dressing room, as he was part of Harry Redknapp’s team at Portsmouth for their final success over Cardiff.
Furthermore, heading into cup games following a defeat in their most recent Premier League outing is nothing new to Liverpool this season.
They were beaten by Manchester United in their final Premier League game before beating Cardiff on penalties in the Carling Cup in February and have already gone into three of their FA Cup games this season on the back of a defeat.
With the likes of Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Charlie Adam given the night off against Fulham, punters fancying a rested Liverpool to beat Chelsea in the 90 minutes can back them at 2/1 to do so.
Alternatively, it is 4/6 that Chelsea simply lift the trophy and 6/5 that they claim victory within the confines of normal time.
