AFC WIMBLEDON vs LIVERPOOL FA CUP ROUND 3 MONDAY 5th JANUARY 2015

"The crazy gang have beaten the culture club" John Motson 1988

The FA CUP is back in town and we've had a weekend of goals, shocks and near misses. Monday night is the tie of the round for me though as it pairs my club AFC WIMBLEDON with the mighty Liverpool FC for the first time in their current guise but with so much history for the Wimbledon name and supporters especially the 1988 Cup Final which I'm sure you need no reminding of (we won 1-0 by the way). 

Huge underdogs once again for tonight's game Wimbledon 
do at least arrive on the back of a good December for a change, back to back wins against Portsmouth (0-2 away) and Exeter (4-1 home). But we need to bear in mind that in 1988 the two teams were in the same division at least, this time around however there's a huge gulf from Premier League to Division Four [71 places between the two teams]

Reformed in 2002 following the ridiculous decision to allow Wimbledon FC to relocate to Milton Keynes the rise back to the Football league from the Combined Counties League in only 9 years is remarkable, and the story is worth remembering that when the cup final was played back in 1988 the Dons had only been in the league for 11 years. 

"Not in the wider interests of football...." FA Commission shortly after approving the move to Milton Keynes and creating a football franchise no one wants. Refers to the plan to reform Wimbledon by the fans which we did and in 9 years rose again to the football league.

AFC Wimbledon likely to start with a strong attacking line up that includes the "strongest footballer in the world -- according to FIFA 15". Adebayo Akinfenwa, here are some stats to compare him with Liverpool's star player...

ADEBAYO AKINFENWA vs RAHEEM STERLING

32 AGE 20

6ft 1in HEIGHT 5ft 6in

86.17kg WEIGHT 67.57kg

11 CLUBS PLAYED FOR 1

London, England PLACE OF BIRTH Kingston, Jamaica

97 FIFA STATS - STRENGTH 67

45 FIFA STATS - ACCELERATION 94

41 FIFA STATS - AGILITY 88

59 FIFA STATS - AGGRESSION 34

54 FIFA STATS - SPRINT SPEED 92

9 GOALS THIS SEASON 6

AFC Wimbledon likely starting line up ;
Shea, Fuller, Goodman, Barrett, Kennedy, Francomb, Moore, Bulman, Rigg, Akinfenwa, Tubbs

Odds (from William Hills)
AFC Wimbledon - 11/1
Draw - 9/2
Liverpool - 1/4