Plus: Chelsea's worrying form continues with loss to Brighton; Manchester City edge past Leyton Orient - but at a cost; Newcastle boost their chances of ending their year wait for a trophy; the FA Cup fifth-round draw is on Monday at 7. Just a few days ago, it was being discussed whether Liverpool could do the quadruple. Now the question is do they have the strength in depth to win on multiple fronts this season?
Arne Slot made 10 changes for the trip to Plymouth, confident enough to leave the likes of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk behind. He would have wished he could have called upon his Egyptian king in the second half at Home Park, as Liverpool's fringe players laboured to break down the Championship's bottom club. Salah has scored 60 per cent of Liverpool's Premier League goals this season - is this where they'd be without him?
Slot stood by his selection afterwards, highlighting both the need for his first team to get a breather during a relentless schedule and for their back-ups to get some much-needed game time. But he also pointed out that many of these reserve players also had an opportunity in Liverpool's final Champions League game, when progress to the last 16 was assured - and that they had lost that one too.
Many of the young players fielded don't deserve individual criticism, such is their inexperience. But there were senior players on the pitch too who looked well short of the required level. Federico Chiesa was one of them. A player who has had to wait for his turn but did nothing to show he was ready for big-match minutes. Darwin Nunez failed to fire off the bench, while Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz had little impact across the 90 minutes. Expect the big names to return for Wednesday's Merseyside derby, when Liverpool can extend their Premier League lead to nine points.
But if those star players are forced out during the run-in, how many of these players on show on Sunday can Slot trust to step in and deliver? Peter Smith. Isn't top-level management about being able to fix problems that arise throughout the season? Adapt or die. Find a way. Well, Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou don't adapt. The Spurs boss yet again pointed to his injury list in the aftermath of this defeat but the sympathy act is wearing a little thin now.
