Liverpool vs Brighton & Hove Albion
FA Cup 5th Round
Anfield, Sunday 19th February 2012
6,000 Albion fans will be heading north towards Liverpool this Sunday as Brighton & Hove Albion take on the might of Premiership side Liverpool in the 5th round of the FA Cup. It's a dream tie for the Seagulls and their followers who are hoping for a repeat of the 1983 cup run that saw Albion reach the final itself.
With a near fully fit squad plus two recent new loan signings from Manchester City (Abdul Razak & Gui Assulin) to choose from it will be very interesting to see which eleven players manager Gus Poyet picks for his starting team. Fortunately FA Cup rules allow seven substitutes rather then the usual five that are allowed for normal league games so Gus will be able to have some decent players sitting on the bench. I cannot predict his team selection, even the ever present Craig Mackail Smith has lost out in the last couple of games. Liam Bridcutt and captain Gordon Greer will surely start and the prolific Will Buckley must be considered but after that it's anyone's guess. The manager has such strength in depth now that it makes his team selection a double edged sword. He has an abundance of choice but some players will no doubt feel very disappointed and unhappy at missing out on such a big match, especially if it's scousers Alan Navarro and Craig Noone.
This is probably the biggest cup game in years for Albion and the fans cannot wait to get up there. It's going to be a massive day with brilliant atmosphere and all the Brighton fans will be decked out in their favourite Blue & White colours for a terrific afternoon. I only hope that the team play as well as they can and put up a decent performance, if they do play at their best then who knows what can happen. That's the magic of the FA Cup.
I'll be travelling up on the North West Sussex Seagulls coach with my usual coach buddies and we are so looking forward to a big day out. My Albion scarf, shirt and lucky pants have all been washed and are laid out ready for the big day, match ticket has been purchased and the coach seat booked. Yep, I'm definitely ready. Anfield here we come.
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