Plymouth 1-0 Liverpool: Player Ratings

Liverpool crashed out of the FA Cup after a dire 1-0 defeat at Plymouth, with many of Arne Slot‘s senior players failing to hit the standards required.

Plymouth 1-0 Liverpool

FA Cup Fourth Round | Home Park
February 9, 2025

Goals: Hardie pen 53′

---

Caoimhin Kelleher – 6 (out of 10)

Kelleher was unsurprisingly retained, allowing Alisson a breather before Everton in midweek.

The Irishman made one superb save to deny Ryan Hardie, but he couldn’t produce penalty heroics this time, with Hardie beating him from the spot.

Hit the target in stoppage time after coming up for a corner.

James McConnell – 5

After earning much praise from Arne Slot for a strong performance at PSV Eindhoven, McConnell was solid more than anything here.

Having started at right-back, the youngster moved into midfield when Joe Gomez went off early on, seeing a deflected shot kept out.

A tough afternoon against physical opponents – missed a great chance in the dying minutes.

Jarell Quansah – 5

Quansah was an obvious starter with Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate rested, and he went about his duties dependably enough.

Losing Gomez made life harder for him, but he was assured on the ball and good physically against a route-one Plymouth side.

Joe Gomez – N/A

Captain for the day, sadly Gomez’s afternoon lasted just 10 minutes, being forced off in a latest injury blow.

Kostas Tsimikas – 4

Tsimikas seems to have lost his place to Andy Robertson again in recent weeks, and he didn’t take his opportunity to make an impression.

One lapse on the ball put Liverpool in trouble in the first half, and he didn’t link effectively enough with Luis Diaz down the left flank.

A wayward cross after the break summed him – and the Reds – up.

Wataru Endo – 6

Giving anyone Man of the Match here feels like a stretch – but Endo would take it if we did!

Endo has become such a good squad player for Liverpool and he was one of the few who looked composed on Sunday.

Granted, this wasn’t exactly a masterclass, but he made a seamless switch from midfield to centre-back.

Trey Nyoni – 5

Making his sixth Liverpool appearance, Nyoni did fine, but you were left wanting a little more.

The 17-year-old was neat and tidy, doing little wrong, but he was part of a Reds midfield that struggled to dominate their Championship opponents.

Harvey Elliott – 4

Deployed in the No. 10 role, Elliott was on the periphery of things throughout, not offering the guile he is known for.

His attitude even seemed questionable at times and he gave away the handball to concede a sloppy penalty, too, sealing a wretched afternoon for him.

One of his poorest games for Liverpool – Slot will not have been impressed.

Federico Chiesa – 4

Few players looked more frustrated than Chiesa at Plymouth.

The Italian simply couldn’t get into the game, loose on the ball and too often running down blind alleys.

Luis Diaz – 4

Starting on the left instead of his regular central role this season, Diaz was one of many who was underwhelming.

On the rare occasions that he found space, he didn’t produce enough quality, not standing tall as one of the senior players.

The fact that he started suggests Darwin Nunez could get the nod over him at Everton – on this evidence, Diaz deserves a night on the bench.

Diogo Jota – 5

Jota took the captaincy when Gomez went off, but this was far from a vintage outing for him.

In fairness, he was given next to no service, and he did at least threaten to produce in small moments.

One brilliant late effort was kept out by Conor Hazard.

 

Substitutes

Isaac Mabaya (on for Gomez, 11′) – 5

Thrown on for his debut, it was unfair to expect too much from Mabaya.

The defender was booked for kicking the ball away, which put him under pressure, and he was rather cruelly brought back off before the hour mark.

Darwin Nunez (on for Mabaya, 58′) – 5

Was livelier than others, firing wide, but didn’t offer enough. Missed a huge chance right at the end.

Trent Kone-Doherty (on for Nyoni, 75′) – 5

A debut for the 18-year-old, but couldn’t get into the game.

Subs not used: Jaros, Nallo, Norris, Jones, Ngumoha, Young

 

Arne Slot – 5

Slot understandably had one eye on Wednesday’s trip to Everton, resting 10 of his expected starting XI for that game.

Still, the Dutchman deserves criticism for such a poor performance from his side, who were woeful.

In hindsight, Slot arguably went too weak with his XI and this could act as a learning curve for him in the FA Cup.

We all want to win every competition, but there are bigger fish to fry this season.