What was set to be a routine game and a usual afternoon at Anfield turned stale as fourth tier team Plymouth kept Liverpool at bay for 90 minutes to earn a deserved replay in the 3rd round of the FA Cup.
Jurgen Klopp fielded the youngest Liverpool side ever with an average age of 21 years and 296 days but the visitors kept their wits as the game ended 0-0 after loads of possession but lots of wasted chances by the Reds. Here are the five talking points of this game.
#1 Young but toothless in front of goal
Massive credit goes to the manager for trusting his youngsters and they were lively for most part of the game, but the finishing and passing in the final third left much to be desired. While 17-year-old Ben Woodburn and other teenagers such as Ovie Ejaria looked lively, the end product was missing.
Jurgen Klopp fielded a side whose average age was below 22, but the lack of experience showed at times and perhaps the boss took the opponents too lightly, as he could have started at least one of Daniel Sturridge, Roberto Firmino or Adam Lallana.
#2 Superb defensive display by Plymouth
The possession stats for the first half were as one-sided as it can get with Liverpool having 80% of the ball for nearly 45 minutes. The Reds kept on attacking and Plymouth could barely even get to the ball, but the visitors did well to stop any threat in the box and goalkeeper and captain Luke McCormick had a good day.
Liverpool were not threatening in the final third but take nothing away from Plymouth who did not slip up even once despite not seeing much of the ball till the second half started. Even in the second half, the defenders did well and the Reds were kept frustrated which led to bad final passes and players taking shots from long distances.
A performance to applaud from the fourth tier side as they managed to keep the second best side in England at bay.
#3 Silver lining in the form of Woodburn and Ejaria
It might be slightly harsh to blame the youngsters for this draw – after all, there were four teenagers in the team and none of them can be expected to win a game by themselves.
While fans will go home disappointed at the prospect of a needless away game, there is a silver lining in the form of the youngsters who held their own and generally played well except in the final third.
Young Woodburn who created history when he became Liverpool’s youngest goalscorer had a game to remember and former Arsenal youth player Ovie Ejaria had a good outing too. Trent Alexander Arnold and Kevin Stewart have had better games, but no one was bad and the signs for the Liverpool youngsters are good.
#4 Substitutions were not too late, but too little
Jurgen Klopp has often frustrated fans with his unwillingness to change his team until the dying minutes of the game. Prime examples being the horrible away outing at Burnley and even more recently at home against Manchester United, the German somehow has been reluctant to make changes early this season.
So the addition of Daniel Sturridge just over the hour mark was a welcome change, and the Englishman did come close to scoring but ultimately could not. Adam Lallana and Roberto Firmino were added on later, and virtually Liverpool’s best attack (for almost a month due to the absence of Sadio Mane) bar Phillipe Coutinho was on the pitch for over twenty minutes and yet there was no breakthrough.
It was just a bad day at the office as even the changes turned out to be irrelevant in the end.
#5 A tough time ahead for the Reds
Currently sitting second on the Premier League table with the League Cup semi-final coming up, no Red wanted their team to travel over 250 miles for a replay in the 3rd round. Nevertheless, it happened.
Now in the space of fourteen days, Liverpool have to play two legs of the semi-final whilst going all the way to Plymouth for more football and the big game at Old Trafford with the replay just three days after it. Manchester United are just five points away from the Reds in the league and a loss there would not only put Liverpool’s title race into jeopardy but it would make the race for top 4 even tougher with all of their rivals on the Reds heels.
All in all, this was a must win game for Klopp’s men but it was not to be so. The manager will be only hoping that talisman Coutinho and captain Jordan Henderson are back soon.
