Liverpool humbled as Plymouth claim shock FA Cup scalp

Liverpool suffered a humiliating FA Cup exit as Championship strugglers Plymouth ended their quadruple bid with a stunning 1-0 win in the fourth round on Sunday.

Arne Slot's decision to field a weakened Liverpool team came back to haunt him, with Ryan Hardie's second-half penalty sealing Plymouth's epic upset at Home Park.

Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson and Cody Gakpo were among the stars rested as Slot made 10 changes from the team that thrashed Tottenham 4-0 in the League Cup semi-final second leg on Thursday.

In a remarkably successful first season in charge of Liverpool, it was a rare blunder by the former Feyenoord boss.

Liverpool's fourth defeat in all competitions this season was just the third time the Premier League leaders had failed to score under Slot.

It was only the fourth time that a team top of the Premier League had been eliminated from the FA Cup by a lower division club.

Now Liverpool must shake off the embarrassment of their miserable trip to the west country in time for the last Merseyside derby at Goodison Park against Everton on Wednesday.

There is little need for Liverpool to panic as a win over Everton would move them nine points clear of second-placed Arsenal in the title race.

The Reds are also through to the Champions League last 16 and will face Newcastle in the League Cup final in March.

Masterminding a famous victory over Liverpool while fighting to haul Plymouth off the bottom of the Championship was no hardship for Argyle manager Miron Muslic, who was a refugee from war-torn Bosnia as a child.

Muslic -- hired by Plymouth to replace the sacked Wayne Rooney in January -- was forced to move to Austria aged nine after escaping his home town of Bihac after it fell under siege by