By Gary Fulcher.

Liverpool will be hoping to progress to the 5th round of the FA Cup on Saturday when we host Neil Lennon’s Bolton Wanderes at Anfield; 5.30pm kick off UK time. Bolton should feature two former Reds in their match-day squad in the form of club captain Jay Spearing and 37 year old Emile Heskey. The Wanderers are struggling in the Championship occupying 15th place – ten points above the relegation zone and 11 adrift from the play off positions – but have lost just one of their last 11 league games.

Bolton have won three of their 13 away games in the Championship and have scored nine goals (the joint lowest in the division) with 19 conceded. The knocked out Wigan Athletic (h) 1-0 in the 3rd round, while Liverpool eliminated AFC Wimbledon (a) 2-1 in the last round. Brendan Rodgers is expected to make a few changes with the 2nd leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final against Chelsea three days after this tie, with the score finely balanced at 1-1.

Saturday’s encounter will be the 12th time the two sides have met in this competition and it’s the Whites who have fared better in the past having won six times, with two draws and three wins for Liverpool. The last time they faced each other in the FA Cup was at the 3rd round stage in 1993. Liverpool had lifted the cup the previous season after defeating Sunderland 2-0 and were the favourites to progress after being drawn away to Bolton at Burnden Park, but the match ended in a 2-2 draw. Liverpool had trailed 0-2 after 22 minutes and it took an own goal from Mark Winstanley 11 minutes after the break to give the Reds some hope, with Ian Rush eventually earning a replay with an 82nd minute equaliser.

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