WATCH FOR OUR THOUGHTS AND PREDICTIONS AHEAD OF WOLVES V LIVERPOOL IN THE FA CUP
Team news: Wolves boosted, but Andre suspended
Wolves went into Tuesday night with a rare bit of good news. For the first time in 2026, Rob Edwards had a fully fit squad available. He still rotated, and he also managed minutes by taking a few players off around the hour mark to keep legs fresh for the FA Cup.
There is one big blow for Friday, though. Andre, Tuesday’s match-winner, is suspended after picking up yellow cards in the earlier rounds. He will be a miss, both for his energy and for the feel-good factor he has brought lately.
Edwards does have options to shake things up. The players who came on in the second half against Liverpool will all feel they have a real case to start under the lights, including Yerson Mosquera, Hugo Bueno, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Rodrigo Gomes, and Tolu Arokodare. And with Sam Johnstone starting both cup matches so far this season, he could be in line to get the nod again, with Jose Sa potentially making way in goal.
Liverpool team news: injuries remain, rotation possible
Liverpool came through Tuesday’s game without new issues, but their injury list has not eased. Arne Slot is not expected to welcome back any of the players who missed the Premier League match in time for Friday.
The cup tie comes too soon for Florian Wirtz, who has missed the last three games with a back problem. Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni, and Wataru Endo are all out for the season, while Alexander Isak remains sidelined with a long-term leg injury picked up before Christmas.
With fixtures piling up, and after Slot named his strongest team at Molineux in midweek, rotation feels likely. Players such as Rio Ngumoha, Federico Chiesa, and Curtis Jones will be pushing to start after coming off the bench last time out.
ROB EDWARDS
Edwards confirmed they have no new injury concerns following their match midweek, with just Andre set to miss out because of two bookings in previous rounds.
After taking seven points from three league games against teams in the top six, the Wolves boss said it has taken “a lot of hard work” but it is “nice to have some rewards in points” and his side “deserve a lot of credit for competing with the top teams”.
On the character being shown by the players: “We have a bare minimum – our non-negotiables. Sprint recoveries, work ethic, duels. The sprint effort is now night and day. We are in control of those things. We can’t always promise we will be great with the ball, we might make mistakes, but what we can control is how hard you run and work. That stuff is why over the past 15 games or so we have been more competitive.”
Playing Liverpool for the second time in the space of four days, Edwards knows the “scale of the task” and they have to “respect” the Reds as a team: “They will want to get the win and want to prove they are better after Tuesday night, but we have to try to make them relive it.”
On squad rotation for the FA Cup tie: “We made some changes knowing what was coming up… It is hard to prioritise one game or the other. Now Friday is the most important game of our season. Tuesday was the most important of our season at that moment. So it is really difficult and about picking a team to win a game of football.”
Edwards insisted the players are ready for the “big challenge” of the quick turnaround in matches, as it is “not hard to get up for Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round under the lights at Molineux”.
On staying in matches until the hour and then making changes: “Against some teams we have conceded early and made it challenging. We don’t want to give teams a helping hand. We have to be in it but not to be seen as negative. If we have a platform build off then there is the pressure on the other team as they have to beat Wolves.”
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee Farai Hallam
Assistant Referees Adrian Holmes & Mark Stevens
Fourth Official Anthony Backhouse
VAR James Bell
AVAR Daniel Robathan
MATCH STATS & FACTS
Wolves have met Liverpool in eight previous FA Cup ties and have a positive record against the Reds, progressing more often (5 times) than they’ve been eliminated (3). The last time they faced them in the fifth round was in 1948-49, winning 3-1 and eventually lifting that season’s trophy.
This is the second time in the last five seasons that Liverpool with face the side bottom of the Premier League in the FA Cup fifth round – they won 2-1 against Norwich in 2021-22, who had knocked Wolves out in the fourth round.
Wolves are into the FA Cup fifth round in three seasons in a row for the first time since doing so between 1978-79 and 1980-81. Their two ties so far this season were both against League Two opponents – they’ve been knocked out by a Premier League side in nine of the last 10 seasons.
Liverpool have lost their last two away matches in the FA Cup, with each of their last five wins in the competition coming at Anfield. The Reds haven’t lost more away games in a row in the competition since a run of four between January 1951 and January 1954.
This will be Wolves boss Rob Edwards’ second FA Cup fifth round tie as a manager – he lost 6-2 to Manchester City in 2023-24 as Luton boss.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has been involved in nine goals in nine FA Cup starts for the club (7 goals, 2 assists), scoring in his one start against Wolves in the competition in January 2023 at Anfield. He has scored a goal every 110 minutes in the competition, the second best of any Reds player to play 500+ minutes behind Tony Hateley (one every 83 minutes, eight in seven games).