Plymouth Argyle caused a major upset in the FA Cup after securing a 1-0 win against Arne Slot’s Liverpool side to end their hopes of securing the trophy for an eighth time.
The Liverpool boss made 10 changes to the team that beat Tottenham in the Carabao Cup and the lack of cohesion showed after accumulating just 0.44 xG from open play against bottom-of-the-Championship Argyle; their lowest tally since Slot took charge at Anfield.
Liverpool were consistently thwarted by Plymouth on the afternoon, with the hosts eventually getting their reward for an impressive performance at Home Park.
The ball cannoned off Harvey Elliott’s arms, which were raised well above his head, inside the area and Ryan Hardie made no mistake from the penalty spot to give his side a deserved lead early in the second half.
It was a disjointed performance from start to finish from Liverpool, who were not even boosted by the effervescent talents of Darwin Nunez off the bench.
Meanwhile, Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou suffered another damaging defeat on his quest to deliver Tottenham a trophy as Aston Villa dumped his side out of the FA Cup with a 2-1 victory.
Postecoglou said earlier this season “I always win things in my second year” but injury-hit Spurs now only have the Europa League left to lift after being beaten in the Carabao Cup semi-finals on Thursday by Liverpool.
The Tottenham boss, who was without 11 first-team players due to injury, had a wry smile on his face when goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky let Jacob Ramsey’s shot through his hands to give Villa the lead inside the opening 60 seconds.
Kinksy, after his early mistake, also helped make sure Villa took a narrow lead into half-time by denying Leon Bailey and Rogers, and Heung-Min Son should have equalised when he sent a close-range shot straight at the sprawling Emiliano Martinez.
Postecoglou was left stoney-faced after Morgan Rogers prodded in a second in the 64th minute to inflict a 21st defeat in Spurs’ last 46 games despite Mathys Tel’s well-taken injury-time consolation that produced nervy last few moments.
