Liverpool losing to Plymouth Argyle was brought up by Ange Postecoglou after Tottenham Hotspur also exited the FA Cup at the fourth round stage after being beaten by Aston Villa
Ange Postecoglou alluded to Liverpool losing against Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup fourth round as an example of why Tottenham Hotspur are struggling amid their ongoing injury crisis. Arne Slot made ten changes before the defeat in Devon, while Spurs were without 11 first-team players for their cup tie versus Aston Villa.
Tottenham lost 2-1 and exited both domestic cups within three days after the Reds beat them 4-0 at Anfield in the second leg of their League Cup semi-finals. Liverpool are also who Postecoglou supported as a child in Australia.
Speaking after Spurs’ latest defeat, he referenced the Reds’ loss. Postecoglou believes it demonstrates why his club’s list of absentees is problematic to their performances.
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“If you take nine, 10 or 11 players out of any team for one weekend, I reckon it’ll affect them; we’ve been like this since mid-November,” Postecoglou said on BBC Radio 5 Live. Asked if that was the issue or whether there was more to it, Postecoglou responded: “Well, I’ll ask you the question: if you take 11 players – how did Liverpool go today?”
“We’re not talking about one or two – and not just for one weekend, by the way. So get Liverpool to do that for the next two and a half months.”
Three days after they played each other, Liverpool changed all 10 outfield players, while Spurs only made four changes. Ben Davies, Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma dropped to the substitutes bench – two of the nine players of which were goalkeepers – while Richarlison was out of the squad entirely through injury.
The former Everton forward joined Brennan Johnson, Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie, Dominic Solanke, Gugliemo Vicario, James Maddison, Micky van de Ven, Radu Dragusin, Timo Werner and Wilson Odobert on the sidelines. Dane Scarlett, who Spurs recalled from Oxford United last month, was cup-tied after playing for the U’s against Exeter City in the third round.
