Liverpool host Cardiff City in the FA Cup Fourth Round on Sunday.
The Reds are looking to keep their aspirations of winning all four competitions alive in a fixture that doesn’t occur too often.
The two sides have only met 34 times in the past 100 years.
Cardiff haven’t been in the Premier League since 2018-19 and don’t look like returning anytime soon.
They currently sit 20th in the Championship, a place behind fierce rivals Swansea who have a game in hand.
They are seven points above Reading who occupy the final relegation spot.
Should they wish to progress into the Fifth Round for the first time since 2014, they’d have to do something they haven’t done since 1959 – win at Anfield.
A Liverpool team containing Ronnie Moran and Roger Hunt fell to a 4-0 defeat in the old Second Division.
This was one of just three home defeats the Reds suffered that season as they finished third in the league.
The other two came against Lincoln and Plymouth who won 2-1 and 3-1 respectively.
Cardiff’s hammering could be put down to turmoil at Anfield.
Phil Taylor had stepped down as manager a month prior. A certain Bill Shankly had only taken over from caretaker boss Bob Paisley two weeks before in December 1960.
However, a Cardiff win was much more common in the early days of the league.
The Bluebirds won 18 of the first 28 games between the two. Liverpool only tasted victory eight times in the period between 1922 and 1959.
That 4-0 victory would be the last time the two would meet until 2007 as Liverpool progressed into a giant of European football whereas Cardiff stalled.
Goals from Nabil El Zhar and Steven Gerrard either side of a Darren Purse leveller ensured Rafa Benitez’s side progressed into the Quarter-Final of the League Cup.
The 2012 League Cup Final was their next meeting. Dirk Kuyt thought he won it for the Reds in extra-time but a 118th-minute Ben Turner goal forced spot kicks.
Steven Gerrard’s cousin Anthony missed the deciding penalty to hand Liverpool the trophy.
Of course, Liverpool will be playing for that same prize at the end of this month.
The Bluebirds returned to the top-flight of English football for the first time since the 1961/62 season in 2013 but returned from whence they came straightaway.
Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool handed them two defeats on their way back down.
The Reds won 3-1 at Anfield and 6-3 away at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Luis Suarez scored five of Liverpool’s nine goals against a Cardiff side who were managed by both Malky Mackay and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
In the five years between Cardiff’s relegation and subsequent return to the Premier League in 2018, Liverpool had gone from mid-table regulars to prospective title challengers.
A 4-1 win in October 2018 kept Jurgen Klopp’s side level with Manchester City, 10 games into the season.
It was the return fixture between the two which meant that bit more, though.
Cardiff managed to keep Liverpool quiet for 57 minutes on a sunny day in South Wales in April 2019. A win was imperative to keep City within touching distance as they battled in possibly the best title race in Premier League history.
Georginio Wijnaldum opened the scoring from a Trent Alexander-Arnold corner before James Milner sealed the points with a late penalty.
The win would ultimately mean nothing as Liverpool fell two points short of Pep Guardiola’s machine.
They had the last laugh though, winning the Champions League a month later.
If recent records are anything to go by, Liverpool look a dead cert to progress in the FA Cup.
With the return of Harvey Elliott and Thiago, Sunday could be a long day for those travelling up from Wales.
[Featured image -Zweifüssler – Picture From Wikimedia Commons]
