By Aiden Gharibian

Liverpool have fallen short to Plymouth Argyle in the fourth round of the FA Cup in shameful circumstances. The game ended 1–0 in favour of the home side, with a penalty converted by Ryan Hardie, and conceded by Harvey Elliott. Plymouth currently sit at the bottom of the championship with 25 points, while Liverpool are on top of the Premier League! So, what went wrong for the Reds today? The truth is, when you lose to the championship’s bottom-placed side, it’s clear that plenty went wrong.

The main area of concern is the senior players who are featured in this match. The likes of Jota, Diaz, and Chiesa struggling to break down Plymouth undoubtedly raise concern, as these three are considered footballing talents of high order. Yesterday, Sam McGuire tweeted out that Liverpool are “plotting to overhaul their attack this summer.” He then goes on to mention the likes of Nunez, Jota, and Diaz as he suggests Slot is unhappy with them. Whether people trust this or not, the timing of this tweet could not have been more fitting. It’s difficult to believe the Reds will offload all 3 of the Liverpool forwards in one season, but it’s evident they are all struggling in their own right. Luis Diaz has struggled massively with consistency throughout his Liverpool career, as he has only netted in three Premier League goals since September. It’s clear that Jota’s fitness is a concern as well, along with Nunez’s poor finishing in front of the goal. With all this being said, these weren’t the only three players who struggled.

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Harvey Elliott had minimal impact on the game, failing to create chances and even conceding a penalty at the other end. This performance from Elliott does little to strengthen his case for a starting role ahead of Szoboszlai and Jones. The same can be said about Tsimikas, with an unconvincing performance and a real lack of quality. This strengthens Robertson’s case for being a consistent starter as his form has improved as of late. Onto some other bits and pieces, McConnell had the opportunity to score a chance with the keeper being in no man’s land, but he scuffed it wide. Joe Gomez was substituted off in the 11th minute with an injury problem, with Arne Slot insisting it “wasn’t a tear.”

There is one final question to be asked: how much does this defeat really matter? There is no doubt that being knocked out of the FA Cup in this manner is nothing short of a disappointment. However, this defeat would have been even more disappointing if the Reds were not in a strong position in the Premier League, Carabao Cup, and Champions League. Most importantly, Liverpool are in pole position to win the Premier League this season, and a victory over David Moyes’ Everton could quickly lift the spirits of Liverpool fans — depending on how pessimistic they feel. So, to answer the question above — this defeat stings, but there is still plenty for Liverpool fans to be excited about.

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Redmen Reacts

Although the grand scheme of things may work to Liverpool’s advantage, it’s hard to take many positives from such a lacklustre display against Championship strugglers, especially when you consider the attacking firepower in The Reds starting lineup. 

Too many off days and too many missed opportunities for players who might be running out of time to impress. 

Whilst it was FA Cup action for the senior side, Liverpool U18s came from two goals down to rescue a point with an 89th-minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw with arch-rivals Manchester United on Saturday morning at the AXA Academy in Kirkby.

The young Reds made it two exciting comebacks in consecutive matches after the cup heroics last weekend against Chelsea after trailing to a Victor Musa header double inside the opening half-hour of the U18 Premier League North encounter. 

Fresh from signing a first professional contract this week, young striker Josh Sonni-Lambie superbly halved their deficit before the break with a well-taken goal after some impressive hold-up play led to a smart finish. 

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Albeit a generally improved second-half performance followed, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson was indebted to goalkeeper Bailey Hall who pulled off four top-drawer saves in the second 45 to keep the scoreline at 1-2 before Tyler Martin fired home a volley from a corner in the dying minutes. 

The Reds rallied late and will feel they deserved the stroke of luck that came with Martin’s deflected effort, with Hall’s inspired display in particular never worthy of being on the losing side.

Next for the youngsters is a trip to Germany, where Liverpool’s U19s return to UEFA Youth League participation action with a visit to VfB Stuttgart in the last 32 on Tuesday, February 1, kick-off time 1.00pm GMT.

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Marc Bridge Wilkinson

Speaking after the match, the Liverpool U18s boss was positive about the response of his side: “It was disappointing to go two down but I can’t say it wasn’t deserved, we didn’t defend certain moments very well but the character we showed, it shows that we fight and we scrap and we’re willing to keep going until he final whistle.” 

On Josh Sonni-Lambie: “He’s a good player, got a lot of potential, still growing, took his goal really well today and I thought his all-round performance was really good.” 

On Bailey Hall: “It’s safe to say he kept us in the game, he made two or three really good saves that allowed us to score the equaliser late on, really thankful, good performance from him, good performance from Josh obviously, we’re pleased that we managed to get something from it.” 

By Leah Bower

If anyone had said a year ago we would be going back to Wembley to retain the Carabao Cup, top of the Premier League and Champions League and still be in the FA Cup under a manager that wasn’t Klopp, they’d have needed to get their heads checked. Yet here we are, beating Spurs in the semi-final without breaking a sweat, 6 points clear in the Prem and through to the Champions League last 16 under the new Arne Slot era.

Slot has made the hardest job in the world look simple. Yes – he inherited Klopp’s world-class players, but he’s evolved this team into a secure and stable system, rather than the heavy metal football we all grew to love.

Dan Clubbe spoke to Reds Legend, Mark Lawrenson, about Slot’s impact so far at the club, and also how important Van Dijk has been for this success.

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On Slot taking over from Klopp: “He’s been believable, hasn’t he? I think the best thing is, he’s really not touched too many things.

“He must have got the job, got in the office and started watching all the videos and stuff from last season and thought, oh my God, how good are these boys? And do you know what? He’s kept everybody happy.

“He’s given them as much game time as possible. Obviously, he’s always going to have his normal first 11, as it were, and nothing’s a problem to him.

“You see him completely different to Jürgen, obviously, on the side of the pitch and everything. But he’s calm and everything and well done to him.

“Not really lost it on the touchline, but that was obviously Jürgen’s particular party piece.

“You know, his Mrs must say, ‘Did you have a good day today?’ I mean, every day is a good day when you’re currently the manager of Liverpool.”

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On our title chances: “I think we’ll win the league by the end of April.

“Well, just look at all the teams. Arsenal, are they going to catch us? Don’t think so, they can’t score. They’re difficult to play against. But I think we’re head and shoulders.

“I would never normally say that, because you know Van Dijk might get injured and we’re going to struggle and all those kind of things.

“I think it’s a bit of a payback for when we won when it was COVID. I think there’s something in the air.”

On Virgil Van Dijk: “Oh, he’s brilliant. Would he get in the best team ever? Yeah. Alongside me and Hansen, obviously.

“There’s no doubt; forget about his ability and leadership. You can just see off the pitch with the kids as well, the young ones, he’ll be your arm around them and all those kind of things. He’s in the right place, the right time.

“Fantastic footballer.

“He doesn’t go to ground or very, very, very, very rarely does, and comes off the pitch at the end of the match and there’s not a spot on him.

“He sees the picture so very, very easily. And the fact that he can play with all those players

“You wouldn’t want to play against Virgil, would you? Better looking, the whole kind of thing, and to still be the top player that he is, but also defensively still be very, very good is a big plus for him.”

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On defences winning titles: “Sometimes the strikers don’t really look like they’re going to score, but in the proper teams, even if you don’t play particularly well, you will get chances.

“But if you say that to the strikers, they go, ‘yeah, yeah, of course’. You tell Rushy, that he’ll go, ‘Oh yeah, yeah, yeah’, and Kenny.

“You will get chances, obviously, which in terms of the defence, they’ll have made for you by not conceding, and it’s a massive thing.”

Slot’s success is nothing without the foundation Jürgen built before him, but wow has this surpassed all belief. He still faces the same problem that plagued Klopp for all those years which Lawro touched on – if we get a big injury, we are at a huge risk of losing it all this season.

He may be the polar opposite of Klopp in his touchline antics and his game tactics, but the only similarity the Reds needed is a serial winner, which we seem to have in abundance.

By James Cranford

Wembley awaits Liverpool after they dominated Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 at Anfield on Thursday, overturning a one-goal first-leg deficit in the EFL Cup semi-final.

The win gives Arne Slot the chance to earn his first piece of silverware as LFC head coach in next month’s final. His side will defend their title against Newcastle United at what has become known as ‘Anfield South’.

There were impressive performances all over the pitch, but it came as no surprise that two of the game’s standout performers were Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk, who both found themselves on the scoresheet.

With only four months to go until the end of the season, both men are yet to announce contract extensions, despite their outstanding form. The same applies to Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was the subject of interest from Real Madrid at the start of the January transfer window.

On the subject of the contracts, fellow club legend Robbie Fowler raised eyebrows last month as he suggested Salah and Van Dijk may have already signed, with the club holding back the news to avoid further scrutiny on Alexander-Arnold.

On the latest episode of our Journo Insight show, we asked Liverpool Echo’s LFC correspondent Paul Gorst for the latest on contract renewals.

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Paul said:

“I think it was a theory that Robbie Fowler floated a few weeks back… I don’t know how much if any, knowledge behind the scenes he’s been given on that one, but yeah, certainly no indication that those two have signed new deals and that it’s very much as you were.

“I think with Salah now; it’s a bit of a straight shoot-out between staying in Liverpool and going to Saudi. How much motivation is there for him to do that?

“I think the competitor of Mo Salah will win out, ultimately, over the financial demands. I think he’s already brilliantly paid at Liverpool, the highest ever at the club.

“They’d [Salah and Van Dijk] have to have a good poker face as well, wouldn’t they? Saying one thing and the absolute opposite being true.

“Even how you execute the confirmation of it, all the announcements, I’m sure all that’s been pored over by the website staff dozens of times in recent months – the best way to execute it and get maximum reach and all that stuff.

“You’d imagine that Liverpool will have a big plan for when they can announce it, but at the moment it doesn’t look like anything is imminent.”

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Redmen Reacts

With Liverpool impressing on the pitch and well-placed in four competitions, morale is high and Kopites worldwide are dreaming of silverware. The club’s decision to make one signing all season has so far paid dividends, so much so that Arne Slot is now left with the tricky decision of leaving one or more quality players out of the matchday squad entirely. The one continuing negative so far in this campaign has been the lack of movement on contract renewals for three of their stars – all club legends in their own right. Robbie Fowler’s theory may have been of some comfort for many worrying fans, but the chances of such seismic news remaining unleaked seem slim. Slot has only gone as far as saying he would love to continue working with the three stars, and has straight-batted contract questions consistently since his arrival at the club. With Van Dijk and Salah on the scoresheet against Spurs and receiving the adoration of the crowd for the umpteenth time, it would be crushing to learn that the pair are only four months away from the end of their Liverpool careers. At this point – as supporters – all we can do is hope.