Mansfield Town v Liverpool: Reds to progress at Conference club

Mansfield Town’s current 7-500 capacity Field Mill stadium welcomes Premier League giants Liverpool for their FA Cup Third Round meeting.

It might be a far cry from Anfield – around six times the size – but the confined arena could help the Stags intimidate their illustrious visitors and pull off the shock of the round with a home win priced at a long 10/1.

Mansfield are this season pushing for a promotion spot in the Conference National, but remain four divisions away from their upcoming opponents.

Paul Cox’s minnows are in decent nick however, with just one defeat suffered from their last 12 games in all competitions.

Even earning a replay back on Merseyside would be a fantastic achievement for the Nottinghshire club, with the draw available to support at 11/2.

However, the romance of the cup is easy to get caught up in, and despite Liverpool showing some inconsistency this season, Brendan Rodgers’ side are in good form and are hard to oppose for victory at 2/9.

December losses to Aston Villa and Stoke marred a run of six wins from eight in all competitions, but back-to-back 3-0 Premier League triumphs suggest the Reds are in fine fettle.

Therefore a potential banana skin visit to Mansfield will hold no fear for Liverpool, who can be backed to win a third game to nil in succession at 6/5.

Given the attacking verve on show from the Scouse club recently, who have scored 15 league goals from six games – an average of 2.5 each match – the Reds could run riot against the lower league opposition.

Liverpool are 15/8 to score four goals or more at Field Mill, a bet worth serious consideration given star striker Luis Suarez’s return to goalscoring form.

After a six-game spell (in all competitions) without scoring, the usually prolific Uruguayan rediscovered his shooting boots over the busy Christmas period to register five goals in four games.

Doubles in his last two games against QPR and Sunderland were key to his club securing all three points, and the influential 25-year-old is 6/1 to go one better against Mansfield and score a hat-trick.

Suarez is 9/4 to break the deadlock and odds-on at 2/7 to score anytime.

However, after signing Chelsea’s Daniel Sturridge for £6m this week, manager Rodgers suggested Suarez’s central striking role could become more withdrawn.

Sturridge could be set to make his debut up-front in the FA Cup, and is available at 8/13 to mark his first game for Liverpool with a goal anytime.

Steven Gerrard has three goals in five games for the Reds and is a special option at 7/1 to score two or more goals against Mansfield Town.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.