‘It’ll feel like a proper FA Cup tie’ – Liverpool boss Taylor previews trip to London Bees | OneFootball

Liverpool head coach Gareth Taylor says that this afternoon’s Adobe Women’s FA Cup fourth round fixture at London Bees has all of the makings of a proper FA Cup tie.

The Reds travel to The Hive to face a London Bees side that are 27 places below them in the footballing pyramid.

When speaking to the media in the pre-match press conference, Taylor spoke about the underdog v favourite agenda in the FA Cup, highlighting the fact that his side are expected to win well.

“They’re a team that we know a little about, not extensive knowledge,” Taylor said. “That’s the beauty of the FA Cup, it’s always about the underdog and the team that’s expected to win. Regardless of any tie that you have, most of the time you have the dynamic of being an underdog and being expected to win. We know we are expected to win and we are excited about the challenge ahead of us.”

Footage of FA Women’s National League South East Division football is not widely available but Taylor says that Liverpool have watched London Bees in action. He is expecting the honesty, hard work and effort from the fourth tier side that will make for a real FA Cup tie.

He said “When we watch them across multiple games, we try to see them play an opposition that try to do what we are trying to do. We focused quite a bit on a game they played against Fulham and Fulham won 5-0. They were very aggressive in what they tried to do. Their physicality and the way that they wanted to press without the ball was the same in the first five minutes as it was in the last five minutes, regardless of the scoreline.

“There’s a real honesty and we know that there will be with girls who play at that level. There’s an honesty across the board when you work in women’s football. The way that players want to give everything physically always makes it a difficult challenge. We understand that sometimes, they may be a little bit difficult to break down when they sit lower. If they want to come out, it leaves them open to exploiting the spaces a bit more.

“It’s similar to the London City game where a new coach came in and we weren’t sure how they were going to play. Within the week, we trained concepts that fit any opposition that we play, it just means that the spaces are slightly different. It’s a game on their own turf, it’ll feel like a proper FA Cup tie.”

Liverpool have struggled to score goals this season and need to create more in the final third. Taylor says that this game provided his side with a great opportunity to dominate and build on their attacking principles.

He said “Going into a game like this, everybody probably sees an emphatic victory for us but teams make it really difficult and nothing is a given. We have an opportunity in-front of us now where we can really try and dominate a game the way I see us dominating a game, so we hope that’s going to be the outcome.”

Liverpool’s Adobe Women’s FA Cup fourth round tie at London Bees kicks-off at 1pm.