Accrington Stanley doesn’t have anything else other than the milk advert, and on a chilly afternoon on Merseyside, they were taking their best shot at overcoming Liverpool at Anfield in the FA Cup in hopes to tell a story big enough to overshadow their association with Ian Rush, but their expectations had been set too high. They were outclassed by a still formidable, but Office slot’s modified Liverpool team in terms of experience and Quality, but even while being outclassed, the League Two opponents held their ground for 90 minutes and fought the match valiantly. Liverpool’s marching on, however, continued to the next round as they now had remarkable performances from Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jayden Dams, and Federico Chiesa.

The League Two side has always been more towards the defence and controlling possession rather than domination; which was a tad unfair on their side considering the matches they were accustomed to regularly played, but with the inclusion of Rio Ngumoha, who made his debut in the game, they had finally found someone who lived up to the expectations. Ngumoha, a left-winger who was snatched from Chelsea the previous Summer showcased impressive first rounds with quick footwork, acceleration and skill. However, even after all the aggrandizing variables, I.E the match and the Liverpool side, a nervous Accrington was unbothered in the greater environment.

Right from the kick-off, John Doolan’s boys employed a high-pressure man to man marking strategy with the aim of limiting the Liverpool army of creative players at their disposal, instead the issue came down to how long they could keep it up. Shaun Whalley, the team captain, was able to make the crowd of 4700 come alive with his superb left flank attacks on two occasions, but alas, his pinpoint passes into the box were intercepted by a Liverpool defender.

The gulf in quality exhibited by the teams in League Two and the Premier League was evident from the first goal itself. For the first time, and with the help of a dangerous free-kick deep in the Liverpool half, Accrington found themselves out of shape and exposed to counterattacks even while holding on to a free-kick of their own.

With Ben Woods’ set piece headed clear by Kostas Tsimikas and Nelson Khumbeni retrieved the ball to Dominik Szoboszlai for a shot, the visitors were effortlessly ripped apart. Darwin Nuñez was fed on the right flank by Szoboszlai and Liverpool’s stand-in captain that day, Alexander Alexander-Arnold, to roll the ball towards the unsuspecting and retreating Stanley’s defense who tucked Jota in for an easy shot.

Liverpool could not find the back of the net easily as Faz Rawson's effective play gave the defenders the edge of control of the game Cole to Yank normally misses a nutmeg on a target shooting definatly should have gone in after billy crellin the child dubber an Everton’s goalie saved Alexander Arnold’s blast but he had some other chances to aim.

In an impressive display of skill, Crellin’s top edge corner was pierced by Alexander-Arnold’s well placed shot which hit the ball with great force, rewarding the Premier League leaders a safe passage into round four just before the first half ended. While Alexander-Arnold did underperform in the match against Manchester United, there were no signs of that in this match either. Ngumoha approached the ball first, cut into the left and took a shot but it unfortunately got blocked, but Tyler Morton and Szoboszlai were quick to catch and use the loose ball. They smoothly passed it towards their captain who did not disappoint them and scored the goal.

The highlight of the match for me was the fact that Accrington did not simply quit after the first half, they show cased commendable spirit and perseverance by managing to come quite close to evening the scores. However, both occurrences were instigated by short corner stakeouts. The first one featured Joshua Woods who is a lifelong Liverpool fan, Eric Alexander-Arnold as well as Tsimikas aided him in cutting through the strategy, and from a distance of 18 yards, he managed to shoot the ball right into the doorway. Unfortunately for him this shot cannoned right off the crossbar, making me sad for what could’ve been a great memories to showcase to our grandchildren. In the second instance Whalley assisted Donald Love better, he easily see through the six yard box cross, allowing Donald to score an easy goal, when he headed close from his position but still managed missing the target.

Liverpool’s 18-year-old substitute Danns also exacerbated Accrington’s woes further in the late stage of the game. The young striker careered past love at the halfway mark before providing Chiesa with an open goal opportunity. Though Crellin managed to keep the shot from the international player, the ball rebounded favorably for Danns who slammed it into the roof of the net without much ado.

Chiesa genuinely made an effort for his inaugural goal for Liverpool with Crellin and the goalpost awaiting him at almost every turn, barring the Gracelins goal that he scored when it was almost the end of 90 minutes when he shot the ball in the far bottom corner.

Stats of the Match Possession This Rarandotion - Liverpool 78% ACC22LIV Statistics 12 Off aim 9 1 Corners 86 One in the target 7 Attempts  Some Individuals 410 Villain Forgiveness Counting on the Lineups tuyetaedtr Analysis Liverpool 64 Caoimhin Kelleher 66 Trent Alexander Arnold 78 - Jarell Quansah 3 – Wataru Endo 21 – Konstantinos Tsimikas 20 – Diogo  N 80 Tyler Morton 8 Dominik Szoboszlai 19 Harvey Elliott N 9 Darwin Nunez 73 Rio Ngumoha Subs 56 Vitezslav Jaros 7 Luis Diaz 10 Alexis Mac Allister 14 Frederico Chiesa (s 46′) 26 Andrew Robertson 53 James McConnell (s 60) 76 Jayden Danns (s 72) 84 Conor Bradley (s 60) 98 Trey Nyoni (s 79) Accrington Billy Crellin 2 Donald Love 5 Farrend Rawson 4 Zachariah Awe 8 Ben Woods 39 Josh Woods 14 Nelson Khumbeni 22 Dan Martin 45 Ashley Hunter 23 T6 Tyler Walton 7 Shaun Whalley Subs 1 Michael Kelly 6 Liam Coyle (s 46 9 Kelsey Mooney (s 78 Alex Henderson (s 46 Jimmy Knowles haw 16 Jake Batty 24 Sonny Aljofree 28 Seamus Conneely (s 63 Connor O’Brien (s 63