There is expected to be fairly significant rotation to the Liverpool starting XI here. Therefore, the fact they had to negotiate a Carabao Cup tie against Tottenham on Thursday, albeit very easily in the end, isn’t as much of a concern. Expect Arne Slot to bring in the likes of Jarell Quansah, Harvey Elliott, Federico Chiesa and Diogo Jota compared to how they lined-up on Thursday night. Those individuals should still make light work of a Plymouth side bottom of the league below. Those coming in will also be eager to prove a point with the amount of games they have coming up. However, they’ll surely be eager to be quick out of the blocks to avoid any potential tricky situation materialising. Anything can happen in the FA Cup and Slot will, of course, have been made aware of this. In the last round, Accrington Stanley gave them a couple of scares before the Reds ran out comfortable winners in the end (4-0). Plymouth are massive underdogs, and they know it. It is likely to be reflected in their tactics, which will see them try to soak up pressure. Trying to do this against the best in the country right now won’t be so easy. They have the worst defence in the Championship.

There is a clear and obvious gulf in class between the 2 teams. At this rate, there will be 2 leagues between them next season given Plymouth are bottom of the second tier. Liverpool head the summit of the Premier League and despite the hectic schedule, they continue to go from strength-to-strength. The Reds are 19 unbeaten in league action, which is half of the overall season. They have the quality to potentially score 3, 4 or even 5 goals here. It wasn’t so long ago that Plymouth lost 5-0 to Burnley in a Championship match, which was also the score at half time in that contest. They’ve picked up a little since then and have added some handy new signings, but expecting them to threaten or nullify Liverpool looks a step too far. Argyle are winless against Championship top-3 clubs this season, losing all 4 meetings, which indicates they have issues against better quality opposition.

It has mostly been a frustrating season for Houghton in terms of earning starts. The central midfielder found it hard for game time under former boss Wayne Rooney, but Miron Muslić has handed him back-to-back starts. The 29-year-old has been restricted to only 7 starts in all competitions in the current campaign, which is set to extend to 8 for this cup tie. Across those contests, this player has committed at least 1 foul per game. Knowing he is set to come up against the best team in the country should see that sequence extend. It will be a test afternoon for him and his Plymouth team-mates, and the midfield will be working especially hard to protect their vulnerable backline.

Despite the managerial change this season, 1 man that consistently gets into the Plymouth team is Adam Randell. The 24-year-old came through the ranks at the club, so this high profile cup tie will mean a lot to him. He has form in the book when it comes to fouls. He is ranked 3rd across the Plymouth squad for most fouls committed this season in all competitions. The 2 ahead of him have recently lost their places in the team, so he’ll have a big responsibility to try and break up play. Randell may not have made a foul in the last game when beating West Brom, but the match before that he committed 5 away to Sunderland. That was a match where they didn't to see too much of the ball, it will be very similar when Liverpool come to town.

Liverpool are a team that has developed quite a handy habit of keeping clean sheets this season. In the Premier League, they have achieved 10 across the campaign, which reflects a 43.48% success rate. They are joint-top of the division along with surprise package Nottingham Forest in terms of number of shut-outs. Some may argue the expected rotation puts that in jeopardy, however, Argyle will struggle to both get the ball and create chances. Plymouth are the 2nd-lowest scorers in the Championship. They have failed to score in 14 of their 30 league contests, which is just shy of half of their games. That is a very worrying statistic and reflects partly why they are bottom of the division.

This is expected to be a very frustrating and stressful match for Plymouth. They will be without the ball for very long spells, meaning they will be reduced to mainly counter-attacks and set pieces to apply some pressure on the Liverpool defence. So long as Liverpool keep their cool then there really shouldn’t be the need to attract the attention of the referee too often. The Reds have the superior quality and really should let their football do the talking as opposed to getting involved into needless situations where they may receive a card. Slot’s side are also ranked joint-15th in the Premier League based on yellow cards, so they have proved over the season that they can avoid poor discipline.

Jota missed 4 games through injury last month, however he is now back in the squad. He returned to make the bench away to Bournemouth and he again was amongst the subs in Thursday’s cup tie with Tottenham. He appeared for the final 20 minutes and nearly grabbed himself a goal. Arne Slot has sensibly looked to ease the Portuguese international back in and has likely pencilled this clash with Plymouth as a good chance for him to collect extended minutes. He had netted in back-to-back matches before sustaining an injury, so he’ll be desperate to face a very leaky Plymouth defence. With Slot expected to rest top scorer Mohamed Salah, at least to the bench, it opens the door for others to contribute. Despite the injuries, the former Wolves man Jota is closing in on double-digit goals across the campaign.

It has been a frustrating campaign for Elliott in terms of having limited minutes. He has only started 3 times all season, however, each of those was in a cup competition, including their 3rd round win against Accrington Stanley. He didn’t score on that occasion, but he did in the Champions League loss to PSV, which was his most recent start last week. He is another who's desperate to get on the pitch and prove a point. Over those 3 encounters, the England U21 international recorded 7 shots, which is an average of 2.33 per fixture. Also, he achieved 1 shot on target in each match as well. This proves that if he gets extended minutes then he can have an impact in the final third. Facing a Plymouth team that has struggled to keep Championship teams at bay will have even more problems trying to keep Elliott and Liverpool quiet. Argyle have shipped an average of 2.1 goals per league game.