Weekend Review: Slot shocked after Liverpool lose to plucky Plymouth in FA Cup giant killing

In what was billed as David vs Goliath match-up on Sunday afternoon, Plymouth Argyle (11/1 in 90 minutes) overcame the odds to knock Liverpool (1/5) out of the FA Cup Fourth Round with a 1-0 win.

Ryan Hardie’s 53rd-minute penalty was the difference, as the bottom-placed Championship side sent the current Premier League leaders packing.

Though Reds manager Arne Slot rotated his starting 11 for the cup tie, the defeat soured a week which saw the Merseyside club clinch their place in the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United and ended their hopes of winning the quadruple.

In a fourth round short of other shock results, Brighton (2/1) bounced back from their humiliating 7-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest last week to beat Chelsea (7/5) 2-1 on Saturday evening.

Bart Verbruggen spilled a Cole Palmer cross to give the Blues the lead after five minutes, only for Georginio Rutter to level seven minutes later.

A tense affair was settled when Kaoru Mitoma found the back of the net 12 minutes into the second half.

Elsewhere, 14th-placed Millwall (6/1) beat Championship leaders Leeds United (3/5) 2-0 at Elland Road, thanks to a Femi Azeez brace – the team’s only two shots on target in the 90 minutes.

ARGYLE BEAT THE PREMIER LEAGUE LEADERS! 💚 pic.twitter.com/Pa7ebZPNkb

— Plymouth Argyle FC (@Argyle) February 9, 2025

In Scotland, Rangers (1/20) were also dumped out of Scottish Cup in the fifth round after Sebastian Drozd scored with 20 minutes remaining to send Queen’s Park (33/1) through.

Drozd’s finish was the Scottish Championship side’s only shot of the match, causing a huge upset against a team sitting 13 points behind Celtic in the Scottish Premiership.

For Betfred’s Alan Firkins, the two giant killings and a Millwall win were good results for the book, with a struggling Man City (1/6) win over Leyton Orient keeping them favourites to lift the FA Cup in May at 2/1.

Firkins said: “Huge congratulations in the FA Cup at the weekend to bottom-placed Championship side Plymouth Argyle, who humbled mighty Liverpool 1-0 at Home Park.

“Arne Slot rang the changes for the Premier League leaders and ultimately paid the price in what was his first serious setback in an otherwise near-seamless maiden campaign in charge at Anfield.

“Millwall put smiles on the traders’ faces too with a terrific 2-0 win at Elland Road against Leeds, and though Chelsea falling at Brighton perhaps wasn’t the biggest of shocks. It meant that they wouldn’t be in the hat for Monday’s fifth round draw, and neither would Liverpool, Spurs (2-1 losers at Villa) and, with Arsenal already having fallen, some very big names are absent early.

He continued: “Given that scenario, the Manchester City of old would presently be a shade of odds-on to lift that coveted trophy, but as it’s a Blues side in transition right now, they head the FA Cup outright market at 2/1, then it’s 5/1 Newcastle, 6/1 holders Manchester Utd, 8/1 Villa, 10/1 Bournemouth and it’s 12s bar.”

For bet365’s Steve Freeth, the Liverpool defeat arrived after punters had placed “several hundred bets” on Slot’s side completing a clean sweep of trophies at both 1,500/1 and 1,000/1, with the odds dropping dramatically to 33-1 before kick-off.

He highlighted that any customer who placed a bet on both Plymouth and Queen’s Park to emerge victorious would have been given odds of 390/1.

Freeth added: “The highlight of the weekend was clearly at Home Park, where not only did Plymouth produce a coupon-busting performance against 1/6 Liverpool, they also ended their hopes of the quadruple having been 1,500/1 in the summer.

“That price was down to 33/1 before kick-off and, having taken several hundred bets at 1,500/1 and 1,000/1, it was a result that was well received in the bet365 trading room.

 “As was the final whistle at Ibrox not long after, with 25/1 Queens Park causing a huge shock in what would’ve been a joyous few minutes for the punters who backed the 390/1 Plymouth/Queens Park double.

🤳 Hang it in the Louvre 🖼️ pic.twitter.com/FlZsTMHBwt

— Queen's Park FC (@queensparkfc) February 9, 2025

“Other profitable cup games included Brighton recovering from last week’s 7-0 drubbing to beat Chelsea, but we paid out plenty with Newcastle’s entertaining 3-2 win at Birmingham City.”

Across Europe, the 1-1 draw between Real Madrid (1/1) and Atletico Madrid (5/2) came alongside several others, including Napoli (2/5) and Udinese (8/1), while Leverkusen (1/1) were held to a goalless draw against Wolfsburg (5/2).

Not all results favoured bet365 however, with Athletic Bilbao (3/4) and AC Milan (7/10) emerging victorious over the course of the weekend, while Real Betis (5/2) took at 2-0 lead leading to an early payout, only for the team to lose 3-2 to Celta Vigo (6/5).

As did Barcelona (2/5), finding the back of the net three times in the second half to beat Sevilla (5/1) on the road 4-1.

Despite this, Freeth noted it was an overall good weekend for the firm.

He remarked: “Draws on the continent proved fruitful, none more than the 1-1 in the Madrid derby as well as the stalemates involving 23/20 Bayern Leverkusen and 4/5 Mainz in the Bundesliga.

“Our ‘2 Goals Ahead’ early Payout was triggered in La Liga with Real Betis going 2-0 up before being beaten by 23/20 Celta Vigo, and we also lost on 8/11 Bilbao’s 3-0 win against Girona in Spain as well as 4/6 Milan winning at Empoli in Serie A.

“And punters hit back late on with the likes of Lewandowski and Raphinha on the scoresheet as Barcelona smashed Sevilla 4-1, but that wasn’t enough to take the gloss off a good weekend on the football front.”

Elsewhere, in the conclusion of the NFL season, the history-chasing Kansas City Chiefs (19/20) were humbled by the Philadelphia Eagles 40-22 (1/1).

Not scoring their first touchdown until the third quarter with the scoreline 34-0, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs failed to win three championships in a row – still yet to be done by any franchise.

Rap artist Kendrick Lamar entertained the crowd with his half-time performance, with the game failing to live up to the close encounter many were expecting prior to kick-off.

SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!
THIS ONE’S FOR YOU PHILLY! pic.twitter.com/tWxrzozMQU

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) February 10, 2025

Betfred’s Firkins said: “Super Bowl at the New Orleans Superdome was a sensation, as the Philadelphia Eagles humbled the slight favourites Kansas City Chiefs 40-22.

“Reigning champions KC  didn’t score until the dying embers of the third quarter and were thrashed by a ruthless Eagles machine.

“Patrick Mahomes and the KC offence never got going until it was far too late, and the Philly defence was awesome.

“No three-peat for KC, but a magnificent display by the Jalen Hurts-led Eagles.”

It was a positive result for bet365, with Freeth noting: “We were also flying high with the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX after managing to get ante-post favourites Kansas City Chiefs three-peat beat aided by an under-par showing from Patrick Mahomes.”