Arne Slot has lost just four times so far since taking over from Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. It is a remarkable record for any head coach, let alone one stepping into such a pressured role.

First, his side was beaten at home to Nottingham Forest — a 1-0 defeat in September that now looks considerably less shocking given how well Nuno Espirito Santo's team has played in the period since — but in the Premier League, the Reds could move nine points clear with 14 games to play this midweek if they win at Everton. The only Anfield loss hasn't really mattered.

Second, Liverpool lost to Spurs in the Carabao Cup semi-final. Winning 4-0 in the second leg, that didn't matter in the slightest. Then, it lost 3-2 to PSV in the Champions League. Finishing top of the European standings anyway, it didn't make any difference.

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How then do you assess the latest loss? Plymouth Argyle, a deserving winner on the day, got a rare victory not just against Liverpool but also in the context of its season: it sits bottom of the Championship, and certainly didn't expect to progress.

But for the first time under Slot, you could argue, Liverpool has lost a match that means something. The Reds now cannot win the FA Cup and therefore cannot win the quadruple — extinguishing a conversation that was just beginning to brew.

In the bigger picture, though, Plymouth 1-0 Liverpool could end up being put in the same bracket as the rest of the defeats. If Liverpool wins at Everton on Wednesday, for instance, when the likes of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk will return to the side, the FA Cup exit will swiftly be disregarded.

If the Reds go on to lift the Carabao Cup next month and make the most of their position in the Premier League — one that Slot couldn't have dreamt of when he arrived in his post last summer — then it will definitely be forgotten. And, it must be said, now it doesn't have more FA Cup ties coming up, Liverpool has a better chance in each of the other three competitions.

That does not mean in the short term that Liverpool won't have to suffer the disappointment of going out. For some players, like James McConnell, Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha, the latter of whom was an unused substitute at Home Park, there is the added factor of wondering where their next senior minutes might come from.

For Liverpool as a club, however, winning as much silverware as possible is the aim of the game. Exiting one tournament that it could have won does not sound like a good way of going about that, but it might ultimately prove beneficial.

That probably explains why Slot was so relaxed during his post-match press conference. He conceded that his side hadn't performed in a difficult game and that the penalty conceded by Harvey Elliott was the correct one — but he at no point sounded particularly upset.

"The only thing I was happy about is that the boys kept on fighting for 100 minutes and probably the best part of our game were the last 10 minutes," he said. "So, that tells you that they kept on fighting.

"But credit to Plymouth — a good game plan, they worked incredibly hard, and they got a penalty that was deserved, because it was a clear penalty; a correct decision. The goalkeeper made one or two good saves in the end, but we hardly created anything at all."

Slot wasn't happy about losing, clearly. But he wasn't especially fussed by it either — and he certainly wasn't stressed or put under pressure by the loss, as, say, Ange Postecoglou was just a couple of hours later.

The truth is, while Slot has lost four times this season, only the Nottingham Forest defeat will rankle — and even that might ultimately be meaningless. His side has so far generally picked good moments in which to be beaten. By the end of May, this might look like another example to add to the list.