FA Cup: Plymouth Argyle Socks It To Liverpool

Liverpool Manager Arne Slot gambled with a heavily rotated lineup and saw his Premier League leading club unceremoniously bounced from the FA Cup 1-0 by Plymouth Argyle, a lesser opponent mired at the bottom of the Championship table. Slot’s risky lineup choices contributed to one of the most shocking results in the recent history of the tournament. Even accounting for the nine changes made to his starting eleven, Slot could not have predicted the poor performance delivered by what still were Premier League quality players competing against the worst the second tier could offer. Federico Chiesa, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz could produce nothing in attack for the Reds and a late cameo by Darwin Nunez produced little change in a stagnant attack. Liverpool’s reshuffled midfield was outplayed and a handball by Harvey Elliot led to the game’s only score on a successful penalty kick by Plymouth’s Ryan Hardie. Thus did the Championship cellar dwellers, who opened this season under the sad management of the quickly departed Wayne Rooney, topple the Premier League leaders who will have one less opportunity for silverware this season. Plymouth Argyle, meanwhile, will try to continue its giant killing ways in the next round against Manchester City which advanced with a 2-1 win over Leyton Orient on a Kevin De Bruyne 79th minute winner.

Far less surprising than Liverpool’s defeat was another failure by Tottenham Hotspur, which was eliminated from the competition in a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa. The London side was eliminated from the FA Cup just three days after Liverpool booted Spurs out of the Carabao Cup semifinals. It did not take long for Manager Ange Postecoglou to realize he was in for another long day when Aston Villa’s Jacob Ramsey scored before sixty seconds had elapsed in the match. The home side would extend the lead to two before a meaningless stoppage time goal narrowed the final margin. After the match, the increasingly irascible Postecoglou would again rant about the injuries which have ravaged his roster. While injuries have been a factor, Postecoglou has done little to overcome them, and his increasingly surly post-match behavior is becoming tiresome from the embattled Australian manager. With elimination from both domestic cup competitions, the sole hope for the Premier League stragglers to  salvage something from this season rests on the Europa League.

Chelsea is still in the mix for a top four Premier League finish and will have more time to focus on that objective after being eliminated from domestic cup competition with its 2-1 loss to Brighton in the FA Cup on Saturday. Chelsea could generate little versus the Seagulls, its lone score coming on a Brighton own goal as the Blues managed just one shot on target. Chelsea supporters were less than thrilled with Manager Enzo Maresca’s post-match remarks which cited the ability of his club to now focus attention more fully on the Premier League and Europa Conference League. The listless performance versus the Seagulls, however, further heightened alarm bells after the seventh non-winning effort in Chelsea’s last ten matches. Brighton Manager Fabian Hurzeler, meanwhile, got the response he needed from his players after the Seagulls were smashed 7-0 by Nottingham Forest in the Premier League last weekend. Brighton and Chelsea will do it all again when the two sides meet in a league match this coming weekend.

Newcastle will be Brighton’s opponent in the FA Cup’s next round after Joe Willock’s second goal of the match proved the winner in a 3-2 Magpie win over Birmingham.

It's @Joewillock again 🤩

He's put @NUFC ahead late on!#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/iSmMVoHwbv

— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) February 8, 2025

Defending FA Cup champion Manchester United will face Fulham in another all Premier League fifth round draw after the Red Devils squeaked by Leicester on a stoppage time header by Harry Maguire. The loss was extra painful for former Manchester United interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy who rightfully noted that Maguire was offside when striking the winner versus his Foxes. VAR is only being introduced for the next round of the tournament so van Nistelrooy and his Foxes can only lament the unfairness of the poor on pitch refereeing.

Fulham advanced by the same 2-1 score over Wigan Athletic and now will visit Old Trafford in a rematch of an FA Cup quarterfinal match of tow years ago when the Cottagers were reduced to nine men in a comeback victory by the homestanding Red Devils.

Nottingham Forest escaped an upset bid by League One side Exeter City before prevailing in penalty kicks as goalkeeper Mats Selz saved two Exeter attempts and put the Tricky Trees into the next round where Forest will host fellow Premier League side Ipswich Town. The relegation threatened Tractor Boys took out some of their frustration from their Premier League struggles by waxing second tier Coventry 4-1 on Saturday.

Bournemouth, meanwhile, defeated Everton 2-0 in what will be the final FA Cup match to be played at Goodison Park as the Toffees relocate to their new stadium next year. The venerable stadium where Everton has played since 1892 will host its final Merseyside derby between the Toffees and rival Liverpool in a rescheduled league match being played on Wednesday. The Cherries will continue on their FA Cup journey against a rejuvenated Wolverhampton side under new manager Vitor Pereira.

Wolves easily dispatched Blackburn Rovers by the same 2-0 scoreline by which the club took down Aston Villa in Premier League play last weekend. Southampton, meanwhile, were 1-0 cup losers to Burnley while Crystal Palace defeated Doncaster 2-0 to set up a nasty next round matchup with south London rival Millwall. The FA Cup’s fifth round will be played March 1st.