Liverpool march into FA Cup round four, Plymouth stun Brentford

LONDON, England : Liverpool cruised past fourth-tier Accrington Stanley and Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Leicester City also outclassed lower division opponents on a largely shock-free day in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

Seven Premier League clubs moved in to round four but it was not all one-way traffic for the top flight sides as Brentford slipped to a 1-0 home defeat against Championship (second-tier) strugglers Plymouth Argyle in the day's big surprise.

Diogo Jota and Trent Alexander-Arnold's first-half goals and strikes from Jayden Danns and Federico Chiesa after the break secured Liverpool a 4-0 win over Accrington at Anfield in manager Arne Slot's first game in the competition.

Accrington were holding their own against the Premier League leaders but Alexander-Arnold, wearing the captain's armband amid intense speculation about his future, smashed a shot into the top corner just before halftime to put Liverpool in control.

"I can talk for hours about that! Unbelievable!" Slot said of Alexander-Arnold's effort, adding that he had been impressed with the fullback after he was widely-criticised for his display against Manchester United last week.

"I think it was good for him to play again in our own stadium, to feel the reception of the fans again."

Chelsea booked their place in round four with a 5-0 hammering of a Morecambe side who are second from bottom in the fourth tier - Tosin Adarabioyo scoring twice for Enzo Maresca's side who enjoyed a first win in five games.

Joao Felix also helped himself to a double late on while Christopher Nkunku was also on target for Chelsea.

Premier League high-flyers Nottingham Forest stretched their winning run to seven games as goals by Ryan Yates and Ramon Sosa