In Saturday’s FA Cup fourth round, Chelsea crushed Morecambe 5-0, while Liverpool defeated Accrington Stanley 4-0 thanks to a spectacular goal from Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The only Premier League team to lose against lower league opponents was Brentford, as Plymouth, who are now at the bottom of the Championship, shocked the Bees 1-0 with a late goal from Morgan Whittaker.
Arne Slot made eight changes for Liverpool, but there was never any sense of an upset at Anfield.
After receiving criticism for his performance in last weekend’s 2-2 draw against Manchester United, Alexander-Arnold was designated captain in Virgil van Dijk‘s absence and set an example.
The Premier League leaders were forewarned by Slot that Accrington’s trip to Anfield would be their “Champions League final.”
In the 92-team English league system, Stanley hung on for almost 30 minutes, behind Liverpool by an overwhelming 86 league spots.
To open the floodgates, Diogo Jota was given the straightforward task of tapping in Darwin Nunez’s low cross.
Then, from outside the box, Alexander-Arnold came forward to unleash a lavish blow into the top corner, doubling the lead.
Jayden Danns scored in the third 14 minutes from time, making the most of his only other appearance of the season.
Due to injury issues, Federico Chelsa’s Liverpool career hasn’t taken off thus far.
However, the Italian scored his first goal for the team with a long-range effort off the far post, taking advantage of some infrequent playing time.
Regarding Chelsa’s second-half cameo off the bench, Slot remarked, “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.”
“His return to the pitch is welcome. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but he was a menace.
Joao Felix stole the show for Chelsea when he was allowed to fill in for Cole Palmer.
Tosin Adarabioyo and the Portuguese international each scored twice, and Christopher Nkunku scored his 13th goal of the year to make up for missing an early penalty.
Plymouth had lost all season long away from home, and only Liverpool had more Premier League points at home than Brentford.
With Whittaker blasting in from outside the area nine minutes from time, Argyle, who fired former England captain Wayne Rooney twelve days ago, defied the odds and delivered a sucker punch to Thomas Frank’s team.
With a resounding 2-0 victory over Luton, high-flying Nottingham Forest maintained their stellar season.
Georginio Rutter scored twice to give Brighton a 4-0 victory over Norwich.
This week, Bournemouth overcame the loss of forwards Evanilson and Enes Unal due to long-term injuries to defeat West Brom 5-1 after falling 1-0.
At the King Power, Leicester went one step further and blasted QPR for six in a thrilling 6-2 match.
Salford City, who are owned by a group of former Manchester United greats, will be Manchester City’s opponent later on in the fourth division.
Salford has risen through the non-league ranks thanks to investments from David Beckham, Gary and Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, and Nicky Butt since their involvement started in 2014.
In the lower divisions of English football, another famous co-owner has advanced to the fourth round as Birmingham, led by NFL icon Tom Brady, defeated Lincoln 2-1.
Rayan Aït-Nouri and Rodrigo Gomes scored early goals to give Wolves a 2-1 victory over Bristol City, continuing their strong start under new manager Vitor Pereira.
