FA Cup: Liverpool vow to rewrite history

The Reds are looking to end miserable run against Palace.

LONDON: Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana has warned Crystal Palace that his side is desperate to put the record straight at Selhurst Park in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday.

Anyone connected with Liverpool would have been forgiven for cringing when they were paired with Palace in the last 16 after a series of embarrassing and costly results against the south Londoners.

Last season, several players from Brendan Rodgers’ team left the field in tears after squandering their last chance of winning the Premier League title as they blew a three-goal lead in an epic 3-3 draw at Selhurst.

They fared even worse on their first return to Palace, where they haven’t won since 1997, as the Eagles, then managed by Neil Warnock, romped to a 3-1 win in November that Rodgers regards as his club’s lowest point of the season.

As if those painful encounters with Palace weren’t enough to make Liverpool’s players and fans extremely concerned about their chances of advancing to the FA Cup quarter-finals, those with longer memories will also recall that Palace’s recently-appointed manager Alan Pardew scored the winning goal when the Eagles shocked Liverpool in the 1990 FA Cup semi-final.

But England international Lallana believes the opportunity for redemption will prove the decisive factor, especially as Liverpool have improved dramatically since Rodgers altered his tactics in the aftermath of that chastening loss in November. “It’s a massive game. We got taught a lesson by Palace earlier in the season. We owe them one,” said Lallana. “We’ve got everything to play for now.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2015.

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