Easily, the biggest upset of the weekend was Plymouth’s 1-0 win over Liverpool. The Premier League leaders were felled by Ryan Hardie’s second-half penalty, leaving the door wide open for the Championship relegation leaders to enter the next round. The game has made headlines for its shocking outcome, but upon some more contemplation, how surprising was it really? Plymouth fought tooth and nail – literally, as Bosnian defender Katic lost a tooth in one of his many aerial defence endeavours – while Liverpool showed up with a starting 11 and bench comprised of their B team and academy lads. To some it sounds like an excuse, surely Liverpool’s B team, with 4 senior players should be competent enough to sweep Plymouth off their feet? Yet, with only Nunez as a big-name backup on their bench, it seems as though the Reds were swept away by their own over-confidence, or arguably misplaced confidence, in their more inexperienced squad.
Plymouth fought tooth and nail – literally, as Bosnian defender Katic lost a tooth in one of his many aerial defence endeavours
Plymouth will face off Manchester City, who unsurprisingly nabbed a 2-1 win from Leyton Orient. The games will be of significant importance to the Mancunians, considering the prevailing challenges to their Premier League title-defending campaign and the behemoth obstacle on their way to the Champions League – veterans Real Madrid. The FA Cup may well be their only shot at securing any silverware this season.
Further up north, it’s been a good time to be a Geordie. High off their win against Arsenal to secure a trip to Wembley for the Carabao Cup final, Newcastle generated an xG of 2.9 against Championship team Birmingham who were limited to a 1.43 xG. This was aptly reflected in the scoreline as the Magpies beat the Blues 3-2 to qualify for the next round where they will face off Brighton. The Seagulls came from behind against Chelsea to secure a 2-1 win partly thanks to an equaliser from Rutter, 7 minutes after an own goal gave Chelsea a flimsy 1-0 lead 5 minutes into 1st half. And 15 minutes into the 2nd half, Mitoma struck the ball past Sanchez to seal the deal for Brighton.
Aston Villa also defeated Spurs in a 2-1 win, thanks to the injury-riddled state of the North London team and the impressive squad depth of Birmingham’s best. Villa will challenge Cardiff next, who qualified by outshooting Stoke in a penalty faceoff. 2-1 was the theme of the weekend, with Manchester United coming out on top of Leicester with the same score line. The biggest talking point of that game was the gratefully and sorely missed VAR system. Maguire’s winner for the Red Devils was a contentious one with many claiming it was a clear offside and an unearned ticket to the next round where United will play Fulham. Elsewhere, Fulham beat another Manchester-based team, Wigan Athletic to earn their qualification.
2-1 was the theme of the weekend, with Manchester United coming out on top of Leicester with the same score line.
Struggling Exeter City fought Nottingham Forest to the death with Magennis scoring a brace, a goal 5 minutes into the first and second half against Forest. Unfortunately for them, Sosa and Awoniyi pulled back a goal apiece so FPL favourites Wood, Gibbs-White, Williams, and Anderson could net 4 penalties to Exeter’s 2. Nottingham Forest will play Ipswich next, who earned a decisive victory after battering Coventry 4-1.
It was a classic round of FA Cup magic and there’s little doubt there is much potential for drama and more upsets in the next round.