New Delhi: Since succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, Arne Slot faced his first setback and as the Reds became the fourth team a Premier League table topper suffered a loss at the hands of the lower-placed side in the FA Cup. It was a reawakening for Liverpool who would have thought that they were going to cruise at Home Park on Sunday. Plymouth have squashed Liverpool’s hope of a quadruple and this was a different team than the one that greeted them last time under Klopp.
FA Cup has time again proven that it shouldn’t be played fast and this was the reason that the bottom-most team from the Championship table was able to beat the Premier League’s top side, who were on a winning point until then. For many, Slot tried too many tricks though the Dutch manager will admit that he has been able to lead his side to the EFL Cup final.
They will finally play the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park and a win there would give them a big gap from the second-placed Arsenal. However, they still will look back at the game knowing they made some cardinal sins during the game. Slot made ten changes and that was what triggered their ultimate embarrassment.
Still, Liverpool had the experience of Diogo Jotam Luis Diaz and Federico Chiesa in the attack who could have easily taken down Plymouth. However, the trio looked a paler shade of themselves and borderline disinterested in the draw. Not having Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gapko or Alex Mac Allister on the bench was again a wrong judgment of the opponent.
How Liverpool’s disaster shaped
It started horribly when Joe Gomez, who had the captain’s armband, went off with an injury early on and was replaced by Isaac Mabaya. With seniors struggling, the pressure on the youngsters was immense. While the Reds were bad for most part of the game, Reds managed to come close to breaking even but Jota and substitute Darwin Nunez failed to go part Conor Hazard.
While Slot may not have looked at the game with less seriousness, it does show what remains his priority. With back-to-back four games in the span of 11 days means Liverpool would want some rotation of their players. Still, they had seven players in the squad who could have stopped such a result.
In the early parts of the second half, Harvey Elliot’s handball meant Ryan Hardie scored through penalty and was about to hit a second soon with Liverpool keeper Caoimhim Kelleher turning a shot onto the post with his leg. Hardie later noted that he had nerves the night before. In the later part of the game, Plymouth defenders Nikola Katic and Masym Talovierov ensured that Liverpool could have no late equalizers.
With the crowd constantly supporting the home side, the only time there was some worry from the supporters was when nine minutes of stoppage time was added. Since Wayne Rooney was sacked from Plymouth, Miron Muslic has injected some confidence in the team, despite winning only twice in the last three months. Muslic is keen on staying at the Championship and now has a chance to secure a title in the FA Cup.
How Arne Slot reacted to the loss
Following @LFC‘s 1-0 defeat to Championship strugglers @Argyle in the FA Cup, head coach Arne Slot said Slot said: “The result is obvious, it is a big disappointment. There was not a lot to be happy about with the way we played” pic.twitter.com/GKOo3NnEP0
— PA Dugout (@PAdugout) February 10, 2025
Slot though in his reaction noted that Plymouth deserved all the credit for their game plan and execution. The 46-year-old reflected that it wa hard to create chances against Plymouth. Slot felt that the game could have been started better. He concluded that he would have liked to stay as long as possible but it just wasn’t their day.
The last time a top-flight team was ousted from the competition by a lower-league team was Manchester City in 2018 when they lost to Wigan. The last time Liverpool themselves were ousted by a team in the lower league was in 1984 when Brighton when the Seagulls were in the 2nd division. While big teams may not have been at the receiving end often, the FA Cup still has created enough thrills.
Liverpool were coming at the back of playing four games across competitions in a matter of 11 days and Arne Slot’s decision to make 10 changes in the team ultimately proved costly in the FA Cup game against Plymouth. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
