Liverpool crashed out of the FA Cup in a shock 3-2 defeat to West Brom.

Roberto Firmino had handed the hosts an early lead at Anfield when he delicately chipped the ball over Baggies goalkeeper Ben Foster.

However the advantage lasted barely a minute as Alan Pardew’s side smashed home an equaliser courtesy of Jay Rodriguez’s first goal of the evening.

The West Brom striker was on hand once again to put his side ahead with a fine finish to a sweeping attack by the visitors not long after.

VAR prevented them from going further ahead as Craig Dawson’s goal was ruled out before the Reds were awarded a penalty which Firmino missed.

Dawson eventually found himself on the score sheet when he managed to finish past Simon Mignolet just before the half-time interval.

Mohamed Salah’s late second half strike gave hopes of a potential replay but Liverpool were still unable to turn around their one-goal deficit.

Here were the key talking points from Anfield:

Another wasted opportunity

 

Six years have now passed since Liverpool last lifted a piece of major silverware.

That League Cup success of 2012 feels like an increasingly distant memory.

Since then, they have missed numerous opportunities to add to their collection and this latest exit in the FA Cup should be considered as such.

West Brom sit in the Premier League’s bottom three and currently have far more pressing concerns than a potential extended run in the cup.

Alan Pardew’s rotation showed that is very much the case, with his side only winning twice since August before their giant-killing act at Anfield.

Given that one of those beaten teams was Exeter City, Liverpool should have been confident of a comfortable passage into the fifth round.

Instead, they flopped dramatically in a first-half horror show they could not recover from, ultimately exiting the fourth round for a third straight year.

They will end up looking back and thinking that this was another big opportunity missed, even if they end up going far in the Champions League.

No cure for tiresome defending

 

A world-record fee was supposed to ease all of Liverpool’s defensive issues.

It seems that was optimistic thinking because all of the same old problems persist.

Regardless of Virgil Van Dijk’s towering presence, Liverpool were porous from the start as all of the Baggies goals came in an embarrassingly simple fashion.

Van Dijk himself was a culprit in the defensive chaos, with the Dutchman caught out of position and appearing lost on more than one occasion.

He was not the only one at fault, though; his defensive partners were akin to statues at times while Emre Can offered as much protection as a chocolate fireguard.

Jurgen Klopp must start to take the blame. His apparent reluctance to work on fixing his side’s defensive issues is starting to become almost negligent.

Trio exposes Reds’ dearth of quality

 

With his side trailing by two goals at the break, Klopp would have been tempted to change things and use his substitutes.

The problem is, the game-changing players were simply not there for him to bring into the fray.

James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Danny Ings were all introduced, but they are unfortunately not skilled in turning a game such as this one its head.

in fact, the one man who could have probably made such an impact did not even make it into the match day squad – Daniel Sturridge.

If Klopp’s claim that Liverpool will not be adding to their squad before next week’s transfer deadline is true, his bench showed why it would be foolish.

His team needs established additions in several areas, not promising full-backs from the second tier of Scottish football.

Sturridge officially at a dead-end

 

One man’s absence in Liverpool’s squad as Klopp rang the changes was telling.

If Sturridge cannot even make it onto the team sheet for an FA Cup clash with West Brom, then his Anfield career is at an absolute dead-end.

The fact that both Ings and Dominic Solanke were afforded place on the bench shows just how far Sturridge has fallen in Klopp’s estimations.

No club is yet to finalise a deal for the England striker despite several being linked this month but this was a clear indication that he will be on his way out.