“This is Football” – Former Liverpool Star on Plymouth Defeat and Merseyside Derby | OneFootball

Former Liverpool Defender Reacts to Liverpool’s Shock FA Cup Defeat to Plymouth Argyle

Sunday saw Liverpool fall victim to a huge FA Cup shock, in a 1-0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle, who have been rooted to the bottom of the EFL Championship table all season.

There has been some debate amongst supporters over the importance of the defeat, but either way it was certainly a tough day at the office for Arne Slot.

Liverpool now head into Wednesday’s Merseyside Derby against Everton off the back of a defeat and improvements must be made to avoid the same fate.

Former Liverpool defender Markus Babbel spoke exclusively to Anfield Index and shared his thoughts on the shock defeat…

“This is Football!”

“It was a big surprise for sure!” began Babbel, “I don’t think anybody expected Plymouth to beat Liverpool, but that’s football!”

“If you go into the game without the right mentality, anyone can lose,” said Babbel.

Photo: IMAGO

It could certainly be argued that some of Liverpool’s senior players weren’t up for the battle, with the likes of Luis Diaz, Kostas Tsimikas and Diogo Jota coming under criticism for their performances. In a matchday squad filled with youngsters and raw talents, Sunday was a time where Slot had to rely on those senior figures to really step up and perform – but that simply did not happen.

Magic of the Cup

Whilst Liverpool were way off their usual standards, it’s still only fair to give huge praise to Plymouth Argyle for their performance.

“Plymouth are bottom of the Championship, lacking confidence and lacking results,” began Babbel, “The they beat Liverpool with just 25% possession, it’s unbelievable!”

“I think results like this are really good for the competition,” said Babbel.

We can all acknowledge that this is the beauty of the FA Cup, it’s just disappointing to be on the receiving end of that magic on this occasion. Perhaps Slot will learn some lessons from Sunday, but it certainly can’t be denied that Liverpool have their eyes on bigger things this season…

Impact on the Everton Game

“As a result of the defeat though, Liverpool’s upcoming game against Everton does become that little bit more difficult,” claims Babbel.

“Everton will know that if Liverpool aren’t fully focused, then they have a really good chance to take something away from the game.”

Photo: IMAGO

Slot will undoubtedly return to his full-strength starting eleven for the Merseyside Derby, with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson Becker all returning to the squad.

Many of these Liverpool players will remember the 2-0 defeat at Goodison Park last season, which really derailed the Reds’ title challenge under Jurgen Klopp. They will know what went wrong last time and will be eager to put it right on Wednesday…