Liverpool moved past League One side Barnsley 4-1 in the third round of the FA Cup.
But beneath the comfortable-looking margin, this matchup was not the walk-in-the-park that the final result suggests.
We saw offensive flair, defensive scares, and a head-scratching moment from Dominik Szoboszlai that had fans at Anfield shaking their heads.
When a weakened top-flight club faces off against a lower-tier side, it can sometimes be tough to tell exactly where the former stands.
But that could not be said in this one. Despite the final score, for the first 80 minutes of regular time, the Reds showed us who they have been all season: a disjointed and vulnerable mess.
Barnsley have been struggling for form, especially defensively, this season—sound familiar?—and have managed just one result (a draw against Wigan) in their last four matches.
Despite an underwhelming 2025/26 season, there have been a couple of bright spots, including the play of striker Davis Keillor-Dunn—the 28-year-old Englishman has 11 goals in 21 matches—and captain and center-midfielder Luca Connell; the physical 24-year-old, though he has just 2 goals (8 shots on target) and 2 assists in 20 games, leads the team in chances created—this includes an 83.3% successful pass percentage and an xG of 1.05.
Unfortunately for the Tykes, Connell was forced to miss this matchup due to the red card he received against Wigan.
Lineup Rotation is a good thing
Liverpool’s starting XI featured Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo, and the promising 17-year old winger Rio Ngumoha, who displayed stellar ball skills throughout the match and flashed what Reds fans have been pining to see more of.
With Liverpool being too far out to defend their English Premier League title, an early exit from the FA Cup would’ve been an embarrassment and potentially the end of the Arne Slot era.
The look on Slot’s face throughout the duration of the match appeared to show he was aware that he’s on the hot seat.
Not even a minute into the match, Barnsley’s top goal scorer, Davis Keillor-Dunn, hit the post.
In the 9th minute, Dominik Szoboszlai opened the scoring on a confident strike from downtown. The attacking midfielder now has six goals across all competitions this season.
The Tykes' offense caught the Reds napping in the 30th minute, leading to a Keillor-Dunn one-on-one matchup with Virgil van Dijk that quickly fizzled out when the veteran held up the offensive threat, albeit conceding a shot on target.
Jeremie Frimpong made the score 2-0 Liverpool on an equally impressive goal—a scorcher from the right side of the box.
What are you doing Szobo?
Hope was gifted to Barnsley near the halfway mark when Adam Phillips -- a player who once played for the Liverpool Youth Academy -- netted an easy one after Szoboszlai got too cute with an attempted pass back to Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Arne Slot’s side threw up 21 shots, though not always quality—just 7 were shots on target—and included Curtis Jones trying his luck a bit too often, taking chances inside the box with 5 defenders all within 5 feet in front of him.
Both Rio and Chiesa also had moments of shooting just to shoot. Virgil van Dijk came within inches of scoring multiple goals but failed to find the back of the net. The home side was growing tired and restless. The home crowd seemed flat and anxious.
In the 60th minute, Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz, and Ibrahima Konate replaced Federico Chiesa, Frimpong, and Joe Gomez. This was likely not the gaffer’s preferred game plan, but enough was enough.
These reinforcements, in turn, moved Szoboszlai to right-back, and within the same minute, the 25-year old Hungarian got beat by left winger Reyes Cleary, who made a nice run before falling down and claiming a penalty. Upon replay, Szoboszlai got a toe on the ball and didn’t commit enough for VAR review.
Over the course of the rest of the match, Szoboszlai made multiple attempts to make amends for his mental lapse that cost his team a goal earlier in the match, including several key passes that would’ve been recorded as assists—most notably an impressive pass to Wirtz in the 75th minute that sailed high.
Wirtz got his footing not ten minutes later and scored on a nasty flick pass from Ekitike, sealing Liverpool’s place in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Wirtz returned the favor to Ekitike, as the Frenchman added another goal for fun in the 94th minute on a beautiful assist – these two guys are special.
The Tykes have collected just 3 wins (4 draws) in 11 away matches this season, but on Monday they hung in there and showed a lot of resilience against one of the biggest clubs in the world. They have nothing to be ashamed of. The same may not be able to be said for Liverpool FC.