Up to this point, Arne Slot‘s Liverpool hadn’t really shown visible chinks in their armour, with an EFL Cup final on the horizon and a top spot in the Premier League very firmly in their grasp.
However, after Sunday afternoon’s disastrous trip to Devon, the Reds will be concerned about the strength of their full squad, as a much-changed Liverpool side crashed out of the FA Cup 1-0 to lower league opposition Plymouth Argyle.
Slot will be disappointed with a whole host of his reserve faces after this crushing defeat on the road, therefore, particularly when it comes to the lacklustre showing of Harvey Elliott, who gifted the Pilgrims the golden penalty that sealed their gigantic Cup upset.
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Harvey Elliott’s performance in numbers
Indeed, this would have been viewed as a big opportunity for Elliott to prove that he belongs in his manager’s main team selections moving forward, having made zero starts in the Premier League this season under the Dutchman.
Instead, the ex-Feyenoord boss will feel even more fixed in his ways that Elliott isn’t worthy of regular minutes in his first XI, with an obvious handball early into the second half allowing Ryan Hardie to be Plymouth’s hero from the spot.
Away from this horror moment at Home Park in isolation, the 21-year-old never looked comfortable all afternoon long, with possession given up a costly 20 times by the out-of-sorts number 19, as the well-drilled hosts were constantly awarded ways into the game to pull off a shock win.
Whilst Elliott’s handball will steal the majority of the headlines about where Liverpool went wrong, there were far worse performers from a Reds perspective, with a limp attacker for the away side really struggling to get going against the Championship’s basement outfit.
Performance in Numbers
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Chiesa’s performance in numbers
Federico Chiesa was in the exact same boat as his midfield teammate heading into this contest in Devon, with the Italian having to make do with the odd bench appearance here and there in league action.
For a talent that was once named in the Serie A team of the season, it was slightly embarrassing to see how little he could offer against a team that sat rock bottom of the second tier, regardless of how well organised and dogged the hosts were.
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Chiesa’s performance in numbers |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
Chiesa |
|
Minutes played |
90 |
|
Touches |
61 |
|
Accurate passes |
19/29 (66%) |
|
Accurate crosses |
1/4 |
|
On-target shots |
0 |
|
Successful dribbles |
1/10 |
|
Possession lost |
29x |
|
Total duels won |
4/17 |
|
Stats by Sofascore |
|
He was way off his scintillating best in Italy playing at Home Park that’s for sure, with the numbers above making for some grim reading as Chiesa failed to hit a single on-target effort at Conor Hazard’s busy net.
Described as “atrocious” by one Reds content creator, the underperforming 27-year-old also only managed to complete one successful dribble from ten attempted, throw away possession a colossal 29 times and further added insult to injury by winning just 23% of his duels on the day.
Therefore, it wasn’t a great shock to see Chiesa receive some pelters after the famous FA Cup clash was over, with Daily Express journalist Amos Murphy handing out a 4/10 rating to the ex-Juventus man, stating that Slot ‘would’ve wanted more’ from a player who has shown his class on the big occasion previously in his career.
In the here and now, he floundered unfortunately, with the Reds number 14 now firmly chucked back into the reserve picture after such a drab performance.
Whilst Plymouth will still be celebrating this mammoth victory for many days to come, Slot will hope he can put this one down as a bad day at the office for his side before then returning to winning ways, with the Dutchman now well aware that his full squad can’t cut it when thrust into the spotlight.
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