Trent Alexander-Arnold’s spectacular goal inspired Liverpool to a dominant 4-0 victory over Accrington Stanley, sending them into the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday, while Chelsea ran riot with a 5-0 win over Morecambe.
The only Premier League side to fall to lower-league opposition was Brentford, who were shocked 1-0 by Plymouth, rock-bottom of the Championship, with Morgan Whittaker’s late strike securing the upset.
At Anfield, there was no hint of an upset despite Arne Slot making eight changes for Liverpool.
Alexander-Arnold, filling in as captain for the injured Virgil van Dijk, responded to criticism of his performance in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United by leading his side with a commanding display.
Slot had warned the Premier League leaders that a trip to Anfield would be Accrington’s “Champions League final.”
A mammoth 86 league positions behind Liverpool in the 92-team English league system, Stanley held out for nearly half an hour.
Diogo Jota was left with a simple task to tap in from Darwin Nunez’s low cross to open the floodgates.
Alexander-Arnold then stepped forward to double the lead with a sumptuous hit into the top corner from outside the box.
Jayden Danns made the most of just his second appearance of the season to fire in the third 14 minutes from time.
Federico Chiesa’s Liverpool career has so far failed to get going due to injury problems.
But the Italian took advantage of some rare game time to net his first goal for the club with a long range strike in off the far post.
“It is definitely a good first step, but as much as I liked the way Accrington Stanley played we have to take into consideration that we’re talking about League Two level,” said Slot on Chiesa’s second half cameo off the bench.
“It is good to have him back on the pitch. He was a threat, but let’s not get carried away.”
Liverpool’s English defender #66 Trent Alexander-Arnold (C) celebrates scoring the team’s second goal during the English FA Cup third round football match between Liverpool and Accrington Stanley at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on January 11, 2025. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Joao Felix was the star of the show for Chelsea as he got a rare chance to deputise for Cole Palmer.
The Portuguese international and Tosin Adarabioyo both scored twice, while Christopher Nkunku made up for missing an early penalty by netting his 13th goal of the season.
Only Liverpool have taken more points at home than Brentford in the Premier League this season, while Plymouth had not won away from home all campaign.
Yet against the odds Argyle, who sacked former England captain Wayne Rooney 12 days ago, held out and hit Thomas Frank’s men with a sucker punch when Whittaker blasted in from outside the area nine minutes from time.
High-flying Nottingham Forest continued their excellent season with a comfortable 2-0 win over Luton.
Brighton were 4-0 winners at Norwich as Georginio Rutter struck twice.
Bournemouth shrugged off the loss of strikers Evanilson and Enes Unal to long-term injuries this week to roar back from 1-0 down to hammer West Brom 5-1.
Leicester went one better by hitting QPR for six in a 6-2 thriller at the King Power.
– Man City face former Utd greats –
Manchester City face fourth-tier opposition later against Salford City, who are owned by a group of former Manchester United greats.
Investment from David Beckham, Gary and Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt have helped Salford rise through the non-league ranks since their involvement began in 2014.
Another celebrity co-owner in the lower leagues of English football is already into round four as NFL legend Tom Brady’s Birmingham beat Lincoln 2-1.
Wolves’ bright start under new boss Vitor Pereira continued as early goals from Rayan Aït-Nouri and Rodrigo Gomes secured a 2-1 win at Bristol City.
