Preview: Liverpool vs Barnsley - prediction, team news, lineups

Premier League Liverpool welcome League One strugglers Barnsley to Anfield Stadium on Monday night for a third-round clash in the FA Cup.

The hosts are fourth in the Premier League standings, while the visitors are placed 17th in League One, meaning there are 57 places between the two sides in the English football pyramid.

Match preview

After falling to a penalty defeat to Crystal Palace in the Community Shield in their first competitive match of the 2025-26 season, Liverpool responded superbly by winning all of their next seven games across the Premier League, Champions League and EFL Cup.

However, there were worrying signs within those performances, often requiring late winners in their victories, and their form eventually took a significant turn for the worse.

Crystal Palace once again got the better of the Reds to hand the reigning Premier League champions their first defeat in the league on matchday six, and that was followed by a miserable run of just three wins in their next 12 matches across all competitions, alongside nine defeats.

Arne Slot eventually managed to steer Liverpool out of that disastrous streak, with his side now experiencing a 10-game unbeaten run across all competitions, featuring five wins and five draws.

Despite appearing to have turned a corner in recent weeks, Liverpool have drawn all of their last three matches heading into this one, and Slot will be looking for his team to get back to winning ways and avoid an FA Cup upset for the second straight season.

Liverpool were the victims of one of the biggest FA Cup upsets last campaign, with the Reds defeated 1-0 by Plymouth Argyle in the fourth round of the competition.

Barnsley, though, are coming into this third-round tie having faced a challenging 2025-26 campaign, including sitting 17th in League One with eight wins, five draws and eight defeats from 21 league fixtures.

They could, however, climb several places up the standings given their games in hand over several teams around them, with at least three games still to play compared to numerous of the teams directly above them in the table.

Their recent form has seen Barnsley particularly struggle, with the Tykes without a win in any of their last four games, featuring three defeats and one draw.

Barnsley have been especially lacklustre in their away games in recent months, with only two wins in their last 12 fixtures on the road, alongside six defeats and four draws.

Liverpool form (all competitions):

Barnsley form (all competitions):

Team News

Liverpool are dealing with a host of injury issues heading into this game, including Alexander Isak, Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni, Hugo Ekitike, Stefan Bajcetic and Wataru Endo, while Mohamed Salah remains away at the Africa Cup of Nations.

As the Reds are major favourites and face a lower-league side in this match, Slot could rotate his team for this game, meaning the likes of Trey Nyoni, Rio Ngumoha and Calvin Ramsay could start.

As for Barnsley, Luca Connell will be unavailable as the midfielder serves a suspension for a straight red card in their last game against Wigan Athletic.

Meanwhile, the rest of the squad should be fully fit and available for selection given they have not competed since New Year's Day due to their games against Port Vale and Wycombe Wanderers being suspended.

Liverpool possible starting lineup:

Mamardashvili; Ramsay, Gomez, Robertson, Kerkez; Nyoni, Mac Allister; Frimpong, Jones, Ngumoha; Chiesa

Barnsley possible starting lineup:

Mahoney; Watson, Gevigney, Shepherd, Earl; Phillips, Bland; Jalo, Kelly, McGoldrick; Keillor-Dunn

We say: Liverpool 4-0 Barnsley

Although Liverpool are missing several players and are expected to heavily rotate their team, the Reds remain far superior to their League One opposition, and we expect the hosts to demonstrate their quality with an emphatic win.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.