"His inexperience of cup competitions in this country" - Gary Lineker claims Arne Slot underestimated Plymouth Argyle after Liverpool's FA Cup loss

Pundit Gary Lineker has accused Liverpool manager Arne Slot of taking Championship side Plymouth Argyle lightly. The Pilgrims caused a major upset in the FA Cup fourth round by knocking the Premier League leaders out with a 1-0 victory at the Home Park on February 9.

Arne Slot rested most of his key players entirely for the game and showed his faith on fringe players and academy players. However, Liverpool looked nowhere close to their usual and failed to create too many chances against Miron Muslic's side.

Ryan Hardie scored the only goal of the game from the spot in the 53rd minute after Harvey Elliott gave away a penalty for a handball. The Merseyside giants somewhat elevated their game after the goal but could not find their way past an inspired Conor Hazard.

Following the game, Gary Lineker claimed that Arne Slot underestimated Plymouth and had to pay for his selection calls. He insisted that he understood why the Dutchman rested so many players with so many games coming up but should have at least named a stronger bench.

Speaking on The Rest Is Football, the former England striker said, as quoted by Empire of the Kop:

“I just wonder whether perhaps his inexperience of cup competitions in this country and how small clubs can rise up for the occasion and whether because.. That wasn’t just resting a few players was it, they weren’t even on the bench the big guns."

Lineker added:

“And I understand why he would do it, I totally understand, because they’ve got so many games and if they’ve got to sacrifice something… But you know, I just wonder whether he underestimated perhaps teams in the lower leagues.”

Liverpool fans have every reason to be frustrated after being knocked out of the FA Cup so early and ending their chances for the quadruple. They are leading the Premier League table comfortably and also won the league phase of the Champions League.

The Merseyside giants have also made it to the EFL Cup final, beating Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals. With Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur also out of the FA Cup already, they had solid chances of winning that competition as well.

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Liverpool ready to sell star player this summer: Reports

Liverpool are reportedly ready to sell misfiring striker Darwin Nunez in the summer, with Arne Slot not convinced by the Uruguayan. As reported by Spanish outlet Fichajes.net, the Dutch manager is not happy with Nunez's output and is open to offers in the summer.

Expectations were big from Nunez following his reported £85 million move from Benfica in 2022. However, he has not been able to establish himself as a regular goal threat for the Reds and earn a spot in the starting XI.

The 25-year-old has scored just 39 times and produced 22 assists in 128 appearances for the Merseyside giants to date. He has just six goals and five assists in 32 games across competitions this season.