Liverpool and AFC Wimbledon clash in repeat of ’88 FA Cup final

AFC Wimbledon are 11/1 with Coral to defeat Liverpool in 90 minutes and progress from the third round of the FA Cup.

It has been a long journey for the supporter-owned club, and not just in the FA Cup this season. Their last remarkable high the club experienced was before they split, and fans rejected the FA-sanctioned franchise to Milton Keynes, to instead form AFC Wimbledon, was way back in 1988.

In fact, it was the FA Cup final against Liverpool no less, when midfielder Lawrie Sanchez scored to win the ‘Crazy Gang’ as they were known, one of the most iconic trophies in football.

There is no doubting the fact that the same spirit endures within the football club, and it should be evident for all to see against Liverpool. They aren’t exactly struggling for goals this term, and with 15-goal striker Matt Tubbs firing, who has a couple of strikes in this competition already, plus Adebayo Akinfenwa who has an eight goal haul, the Reds rearguard might have their work cut out.

The duo are 4/1 and 5/1 respectively to hit the back of the net anytime, and both scored recently in the club’s recent 4-1 demolition of Exeter in their last match.

No doubt the hero of ’88, Sanchez will be in the crowd, and he has spoken of his admiration of Wimbledon’s rise back to the football league and the stubbornness of the supporters who rejected the FA decision.

“These were our fans,” he said. “They weren’t prepared to put up with the club being moved and what they have done is probably the best achievement in football since the old Wimbledon. When I go, there is a unique feeling at the club: it’s a people’s club.”

This much should at least be evident against Brendan Rodgers’ Reds, who will visit now fully aware that their much-loved skipper, and a hero of the FA Cup himself, Steven Gerrard is leaving at the end of the season. It will be his first game since his announcement, and can look back fondly on the competition.