Liverpool travel to Oldham for another FA Cup away day, after narrowly defeating Mansfield Town 2-1 in the third round.

Despite the controversy of Luis Suarez’s hand-ball that day, the Reds progressed and are heavy favourites to win against lower-league opposition again at 1/4 (1.25).

Liverpool’s form is good, with four wins from their last five outings, and even the 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford to Manchester United will have been somewhat encouraging for boss Brendan Rodgers given their second half performance.

Oldham have lost their last four home fixtures – scoring just two goals in the process – and look the rank outsiders their odds suggest at 11/1 (12.0).

You never know in cup competitions, and Paul Dickov’s side will raise their game for the visit of their illustrious opponents, that is if the ground staff can get the pitch in good enough condition for the match to go ahead.

At 9/2 (5.50) the draw can’t be ruled out due to Liverpool’s inconsistency this season, but they look pretty strong based on recent performances and should come away with victory.

A win to nil for the visitors could be worth backing at 10/11 (1.90), but Liverpool did concede at Mansfield and have kept a clean sheet in just one of six domestic away fixtures recently.

The best bet for this game looks to be siding with the Reds to win both halves of the game at 5/4 (2.25), given this would have paid out in seven of their last 11 matches in all competitions.

Fans of the Merseyside club will be buoyed by the sight of attackers Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Fabio Borini all on the pitch together at the same time in recent games, and Sturridge particularly has stood out since his £12 million move from Chelsea.

A goal on his debut in the FA Cup, followed by two Premier League strikes in as many games suggests the 23-year-old has a big part to play in the second half of the campaign.

He broke the deadlock against Mansfield after just seven minutes, and looks worth backing to open the scoring again at Oldham with a tempting price of 10/3 (4.33).

Jamie Dickenson is a 22-year-old freelance journalist who specialises in football, sports and betting.

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Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has revealed that he still hopes to bring in “one or two” more signings in January, having allowed youngster Michael Ngoo to join Hearts on loan until the end of the season.

As Goal.com exclusively revealed on Thursday, the England youth international has become the second Reds player to join the Jambos in the space of the week by following Danny Wilson to Tynecastle.

And, whilst Rodgers does not expect that to be the last piece of business the Merseyside club do this month, he is now targeting arrivals rather than departures.

He told reporters: “We hope to do some business between now and the end of the month. The owners have been brilliant and supporting.

“We’ve got a young player who’ll go out on loan to get some experience but apart from that I don’t expect people [to go]. One or two, maybe, to come in.

“We know we still need one or two additions more. The club is doing everything it possible can to assist me in that. If we can, great. If not, we’ll have to review it again in the summer.”

Ngoo could be in line to make his Hearts debut this weekend, as the Scottish club take on Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Cup.

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has played down the clash between Chelsea winger Eden Hazard and a Swansea ballboy this week, describing the incident as “unfortunate”.

The Belgian wideman was red carded during his side’s Capital One Cup defeat to the Swans after kicking 17-year-old Charlie Morgan in an attempt to retrieve the ball.

And, though former Swansea boss Rodgers revealed that he knows the ballboy personally, he insisted there is no need for charges to be brought against Hazard.

“I know Charlie well actually,” he told reporters. “He was great for me. He was taught well.

“He’s a good boy, he loves his club and he loves his football. It was just an unfortunate incident to be fair. Hazard is obviously trying to get the ball back and, of course, none of us want to see [the incident] happen but I’m sure it wasn’t intentional from Hazard.

“I’ve read all the ridiculous comments about whether [Hazard] should face criminal charges. It was just one of those incidents. Charlie’s Twitter account has now got some more hits on it!

“Ballboys are well tuned-in to what’s required in the game and it was maybe a wee bit of gamesmanship by Charlie but it’s certainly nothing sinister. He’s a real good kid. Any manager, player or coach would be happy if their ballboy did that.”

The Northern Irishman also hailed his former club’s achievement in reaching a first major cup final in their history.

“They are really passionate at Swansea about their football club and congratulations go to them,” he continued.

“It’s a wonderful achievement over two legs to get through to the final and hopefully they will go on and have a chance to win their first major trophy.

“It was a great result, I haven’t spoken to anyone – I have just exchanged messages with one or two of the people there.”