Liverpool and Chelsea made short work of their fourth division visitors, Accrington Stanley (4-0) and Morecambe (5-0), a fate that their Brentford envy, eliminated from the outset by the bottom of the Championship , Saturday in the FA Cup.
All representatives of the Premier League have taken care of their entry into the « Cup »with the exception of « Bees » (bees) from London, stung 1-0 in front of their home crowd by Plymouth Argyle, last in D2.
Nottingham Forest did the job against Luton (2-0), Bournemouth and Leicester outclassed West Brom (5-1) and QPR (6-2), Wolverhampton took over Bristol (2-1) and Brighton did fold Norwich (4-0), helped by a double from Frenchman Georginio Rutter.
Manchester City is now expected to turn the corner, at the end of the afternoon against Salford City, a fourth division team owned by former Manchester United stars, including David Beckham.
Most of the big names presented reshuffled teams against their opponents from the lower divisions on Saturday.
Among the ultra-rich in Chelsea, this produced a “our” high-level starter however, since the usual replacements in the Premier League are called Axel Disasi, Reece James, Romeo Lavia, Joao Félix and Christopher Nkunku.
Tosin Adarabioyo scores a goal for Chelsea against Morecambe (D4), in the FA Cup, January 11, 2025 at Stamford Bridge / Ben STANSALL / AFP
THE « Blues » and their French striker, who missed a penalty (17th), experienced a fairly sluggish first period, ending at only 1-0 after a shot from Tosin Adarabioyo (39th, 1-0) deflected by an opponent.
But they stepped on the accelerator after the break and took off thanks to Nkunku (50th), Adarabioyo again (70th), then Félix (75th, 77th).
-Chiesa scorer
Premier League leader Liverpool made life easier with two goals in each period against Accrington Stanley, nineteenth in League Two (D4).
Arne Slot had rested Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Virgil van Dijk, for example, and given a chance to players with little playing time (Endo, Elliott, Quansah…), if at all.
At 16 years and 135 days old, promising left winger Rio Ngumoha made his debut with the « Reds ». The young dribbler, who arrived from Chelsea in September to play with the U18s, sparked on his side, especially in the first half.
Federico Chiesa (c) congratulated by his teammates after his goal for Liverpool against Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup, January 11, 2025 / Oli SCARFF / AFP
Liverpool took cover before half-time by Diogo Jota (29th) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (45th, 2-0), which allowed Slot to continue his squad review.
Federico Chiesa, in a rare appearance for Liverpool, took the opportunity to score his first goal (90th, 4-0), a quarter of an hour after being involved in that of the 3-0 (76th) signed Jayden Danns, another incoming.
“We shouldn’t get carried away because although I really liked the way Accrington Stanley played, ultimately they are a League Two team”nuanced Slot, when asked about the performance of the Italian striker.
