MatchPlymouth Argyle v Liverpool: FA Cup team news

The Reds travel to the home of the Championship outfit in round four, having already booked a place in a domestic cup final.

Their visit to Home Park will come just three days after a 4-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur to reach the Carabao Cup showpiece, and three days before Slot’s men go to Everton in the Premier League.

And asked about the likelihood of utilising the depth of his squad against Plymouth, the head coach said on Friday: “It is true that if you play with a team that hasn’t played so much together, that is always for the players a bit more difficult.

“But I think we have seen already a few times when we played with a team that hasn’t played much together – even in Eindhoven in the Champions League game – these players were able to play a very good game.

“I think it’s important at these moments for some players that don’t get [much] playing time to have that playing time, so whenever we need them they are ready. If you never play them then it’s so difficult for them to be ready if we do get some injuries or suspensions.

“So we will definitely use a few players that haven’t played that much, but we will make that final call tomorrow [Saturday].”

Vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold is not available for Sunday as he continues to recover from the injury he sustained at AFC Bournemouth a week ago.

Tyler Morton is also a confirmed absentee for the forthcoming weeks due to a shoulder issue.

On James McConnell, who Slot has chosen to keep as part of the senior squad rather than a loan move, the Dutchman said: “I think you watched the PSV game as well, so that’s what you see.

“And what I see is him on the training pitch competing with all our other midfielders, and then I see a player that is competing with them. Always gives everything he has.

“And Tyler Morton is out with an injury for a while; I think he was maybe our sixth midfielder and James is taking that position for the upcoming weeks as well. So, it’s a combination of both: it’s him doing really well and the injury of Tyler Morton.”

Plymouth captain Joe Edwards is nearing a return to action after more than three months out due to a hamstring injury.

Head coach Miron Muslic said of the defender: “I think the captain is about to return. We are speaking about just a small time window until Joe can support us.

“He supported us anyway, all the way, even in his injury. It says a lot about his personality, says a lot about his character. That’s a proper captain.

“So I’m very much looking forward to having him fully, fully available, so he can support us and help us on the pitch and I think we’re very close to seeing him back.”

Kornel Szucs has not been part of an Argyle squad since their 1-0 win at Brentford in the FA Cup third round, as a result of an injury.

The defender has returned to full training with his teammates but Muslic reported the tie with Liverpool may come too soon for him to be involved.

Brendan Galloway and Joe Hatch, meanwhile, have already been ruled out for the rest of 2024-25.

The Pilgrims have won two, drawn two and lost two since the January appointment of Muslic, who has predominantly favoured a three-at-the-back system.

“We believe that we can be uncomfortable, that we can be very hard to beat and very hard to play,” he said of facing the Reds.

“We showed it against Sunderland away and also against West Brom, two teams trying to reach the Premier League level.

“Liverpool is another step, Liverpool is another category. Liverpool can find another gear very, very quickly and that’s OK, we won’t stop this, but we have also some things that we can show, and we can also learn from this game.”

Last match

Plymouth 2-1 West Bromwich Albion (February 1): Hazard, Talovierov, Katic, Pleguezuelo, Sorinola, Randell, Houghton, Puchacz, Baidoo, Wright, Bundu.

Liverpool 4-0 Tottenham Hotspur: Kelleher, Bradley, Van Dijk, Konate, Robertson, Gravenberch, Jones, Szoboszlai, Gakpo, Salah, Nunez.