Paul Gorst’s verdict from Anfield as Liverpool book their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 4-1 win over Barnsley
Arne Slot saw his side see off Barnsley 4-1 at Anfield(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
If there is to be any firm conclusions drawn from victory over a team 17th in the third tier of English football, it is that Liverpool appear to be taking the FA Cup more seriously this year.
This wasn’t particularly a performance or even a scoreline that indicated that much but the strength of the team put out by Arne Slot and the players subsequently brought into proceedings was enough to suggest that the head coach views this year’s iteration as something more valuable.
Ultimately, it was a straightforward night at the office for the Reds, who breezed into the fourth round with a 4-1 win over Barnsley, with substitutes Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike lighting up the final throes of a game that had, up until the final third, been dominated by the headline-hunting Dominik Szoboszlai. More on his eventful evening shortly.
With a challenge for the Premier League title now little more than a pipedream and the Carabao Cup assignments done for, a Liverpool team who find themselves leading the top-four race don’t really have any excuses not to go all in for a ninth set of winners’ medals in the world’s oldest cup competition.
Last year’s exit at the hands of Plymouth Argyle was shrugged off almost immediately due to the impending Premier League title and the small matter of a League Cup final to come. And defeats to Manchester United and Brighton, in 2024 and 2023 respectively, were also only briefly mourned by Jurgen Klopp.
But with Champions League qualification potentially afforded to as many as five top-flight sides in England this year, it would be foolish to discard this most proud of tournaments without a fight, even if it has admittedly lost much of its lustre this century.
And it shouldn’t be overstated either, on the day Anfield favourite Xabi Alonso was relieved of his duties at Real Madrid, that Slot needs a strong showing in this competition himself now.
The end of the season will see him enter the final year of the three-term contract he penned in 2024 and the end-of-season appraisal will make for much better reading for sporting director Richard Hughes and FSG’s CEO of football Michael Edwards if there is something noteworthy from the FA Cup on it.
It was also a chance to post a first win of the new year on the board after three successive draws and Slot was clearly desperate to avoid the sort of destabilising result that would have halted whatever degree of momentum you feel this team has gathered. It’s 11 unbeaten now, dating back to late November.
The visitors nearly took a shock lead after 28 seconds when captain Davis Keillor-Dunn headed against the post but a rocket from Szoboszlai gave the Reds their advantage inside 10 minutes.
It’s 20 years now since the famous ‘Steven Gerrard final’ – when Rafa Benitez’s side beat West Ham United on penalties after their captain had twice inspired a comeback – and Szoboszlai’s howitzer, the 100th goal of his career, was more than a passable impression of the Liverpool legend’s iconic extra-time equaliser in Cardiff.
After Jeremie Frimpong had doubled the lead, Barnsley’s reduction of the deficit, shortly before half time, was the stuff of dreams for former Liverpool academy prospect Adam Phillips. But it arrived via a personal nightmare for Szoboszlai, whose overconfidence veered wildly into arrogance, resulting in him inexplicably failing to execute a back-heel inside his own penalty area after initially sweeping up the danger.
“It was disrespectful,” slammed Tykes boss Conor Hourihane. “He wouldn’t do it against Arsenal or Chelsea in the Premier League, so why against Barnsley?”
It was needless hubris from the Hungary captain that was duly punished by Reds fans Phillips, who was left with a career highlight to savour. Szoboszlai is still expected to feature at the weekend when Burnley visit in the Premier League, despite the bruised ego suffered here.
Slot, as it to further emphasize his unwavering respect to this year’s competition, sent on Wirtz, Ibrahima Konate and the returning Ekitike on the hour mark and the two forwards combined twice to secure their passage late on.
Ekitike showed Szoboszlai how it’s done with a cute back-heel that opened up the space for Wirtz to beautifully curl home his third goal for the Reds. And the Germany international repaid his colleague by sliding it to him on a plate in the closing stages to ever so slightly flatter Slot’s men.
Most coaches in the FA Cup can only dream of sending on players with the value of £116m Wirtz and £79m Ekitike and for a team who are seemingly gearing up for a right old crack at the Cup, they have to use that now.
A home tie with Brighton is the Premier League champions’ reward for their dismantling of the League One strugglers and that will offer a much bigger indication as to how seriously Slot is taking this competition now. The early omens, though, suggest he means business.
