THE FA Cup fourth round has got off to a thrilling start – and plenty more exciting ties are coming up TODAY.
Premier League leaders Liverpool make the mammoth trip to Championship strugglers Plymouth Argyle, hoping to avoid a huge upset.
Later, Aston Villa and Tottenham go head-to-head in a blockbuster clash for a spot in the fifth round, with Marcus Rashford in line to make his debut for the Villans.
- Kick off times: 12.30pm/3pm/5.35pm
- TV channel: ITV1/BBC One
- FREE live stream: ITVX/BBC iPlayer
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SECOND HALF
Back underway at Home Park as we await the opening goal.
Back out
We’re preparing for the restart as the two players head out.
Can Liverpool step up and progress here? Can Plymouth hold out and create one or two chances of their own?
From Justin Allen at Home Park
This has been an awful first-half from Liverpool, who are so off the boil.
Arne Slot has made 10 changes with the team currently having three games in six days with the Merseyside derby with Everton coming on Wednesday.
But this performance against the Championship’s bottom team has not been good enough.
They look toothless up front — with only a deflected effort from James McConnell making Argyle keeper Conor Hazard work so far.
Darin Nunez will surely have to come on in the second half.
But he has a young bench and his lack of insurance options could bite him back unless the starting XI up their game.
Stats at the break
Just the one shot on target in that 45 minutes and even I could’ve saved it.
Liverpool have made almost 4x as many passes as Argyle but not doing an awful lot with that possession.
HALF TIME! Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
Plenty of effort, dedication and fight out there.
Unfortunately, lacking any sort of quality at the break. But the job’s half done for Plymouth who’ve not looked out of place in this tie.
45 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
Three minutes added on in the first half.
44 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
Nyoni just overhits a through ball for Chiesa and even he can’t keep it in as it heads towards the touchline for a throw.
He does his best to keep it in, sliding in and instead knocking it out for a goal kick to Plymouth instead.
42 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
Mabaya picks up a yellow card for kicking the ball away and delaying the restart on a Plymouth throw.
He didn’t quite deal with the ball, running it out of play in his defensive third and didn’t want it coming back in quickly.
The offside flag goes up to prevent the Plymouth move coming to anything.
39 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
Two corners in quick succession for Liverpool.
Both go short, both a waste of time as the ball never made it into the box.
36 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
McConnell’s turn to try his luck from distance and this one takes a nick on the way through.
It makes it slightly tricky for Hazard who has to get down to push it away and Plymouth clear to safety.
34 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
Straight down the other end and Elliott has an effort from 25 yards blocked on its way through.
Just slowly coming to life with 10 minutes until the break.
33 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
Penalty shout for the home side and the supporters are up out their seats.
Bundu capitalises on a mistake from Tsimikas who misjudges the ball into the box.
But the defender gets back in to put Bundu off and the forward goes to ground looking for a spot kick. It would’ve been soft but worth the shout.
From Justin Allen at Home Park
Not really taken off here yet. Liverpool have not been moving the ball around quickly enough against an organised Argyle.
But it has been the hosts who have looked more likely to score in the opening exchanges with Ryan Hardie getting past Joe Gomez on the right but his ball quickly smothered by keeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
Hardie also saw an effort charged down.
Mustapha Bundu also tried to weave through but Kostas Tsimikas managed to stop him in his tracks as he was set to shoot 12 yards out.
Gomez going off was an early blow – given he has only recently returned from a hamstring injury.
Arne Slot’s team have started to enjoy more possession. Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones are still available on the bench to come on.
28 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
Told you there wasn’t much to shout about.
Plymouth defending strongly and have a real presence up front should the chance to counter arise.
Liverpool dominating the ball the last 10 minutes or so but it’s all in front of Argyle.
23 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
Talovierov just does enough to prevent Diaz breaking down the left.
The big defender actually wins a goal kick though Diaz protests it should be a corner.
Talovierov then celebrates having gotten the better of that exchange. I’m never too sure where my thoughts lying on defenders celebrating like that but good for him anyway.
21 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
Miron Muslic claps his players after they win a throw in on halfway.
He’d likely have set getting through the first 20 minutes as a target and checkpoint and they’ve come through it well.
Probably slightly better than Liverpool, too. Not much quality in the opening quarter of the game at all though.
18 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
First booking of the afternoon is dished out as Nyoni is late with a challenge in the middle of the park.
It could well be enough for a yellow on its own but he has already had a couple of niggling fouls, the youngster.
14 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
Now Nikola Katic is down for Plymouth. It looks like a head knock and that he’ll be OK thankfully.
He’d at least one serious injury when playing north of the border but this doesn’t look too bad.
In fact the physios are seeing to his teeth, such was the knock.
Incidentally, Diogo Jota took the armband from Gomez.
12 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
Kelleher comes out to punch a swinging corner from underneath his crossbar.
Only as far as the edge of the box where Gyabi waits for it and smashes towards goal but it’s block on the way.
10 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
His afternoon is done. A real shame.
But one man’s downfall is another man’s opportunity. Isaac Mabaya comes on for a Reds debut.
- OFF: Gomez
- ON: Mabaya
8 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
Nightmare for Joe Gomez and Liverpool as he sits down on the turf.
He’s only just back from a hamstring injury and this is his first appearance of 2025.
Skippering the side today too. You can see the devastation in his face.
4 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
End-to-end start here!
Luis Diaz has THREE men on him when trying to attack down the left.
He tries to work a one-two with Elliott who can’t return the pass. Plymouth break and Hardie gets down the right and fizzes a cross in towards Wright but Kelleher sprints off his line to drop low and intercept it.
1 – Plymouth 0-0 Liverpool
First effort on goal comes for the home side as they work the ball well into the final third.
The ball just won’t sit for Hardie and when waiting for it to come down, he gets his shot away but it’s blocked.
KICK-OFF!
We’re underway at Home Park!
From Justin Allen at Home Park
Arne Slot has had to manage the squad this week with three games in the space of six days so rung the changes.
Only keeper Caoimhin Kelleher kept his place from the Liverpool team that thumped Tottenham 4-0 on Thursday with one eye on the Merseyside derby on Wednesday night.
Seventeeen-year-old Treymaurice Nyoni made only the second start of his senior career while James McConnell, 20, also was in the XI for the second time, having played against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.
There was almost a carnival atmosphere inside Home Park.
Argyle, while a League Two club, famously held Liverpool to a goalless draw in 2017 at Anfield before earning a replay, which they lost 1-0 in Devon.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
