Hazard ready for Liverpool

Hazard ready for Liverpool

15 January 2025

DOWNPATRICK’S Conor Hazard will have FA Cup fever after his side, Plymouth Argyle, landed a fourth round tie with titans Liverpool.

The 26 year-old goalkeeper kept a clean sheet to help Argyle pull off a sensational underdog story as they sent Premier League Brentford crashing out of the competition on Saturday.

He produced two crucial saves inside the opening 15 minutes to deny Portuguese winger Fabio Carvalho, before his teammate, Morgan Whittaker, snatched an unlikely win with an 82nd minute strike.

The Bees failed to trouble Hazard throughout the remainder of play, despite turning to star players Bryan Mbeumo and Yoanne Wissa - a pair that have scored a combined 23 top-flight goals so far this season.

When the draw for the next round got underway, Plymouth, like many clubs, will have had their hopes set on meeting one of the big boys, and the TV many that comes with it, and potential suitors included the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea.

They may not have drawn any of those three, but they got their wish and will now host eight-time winners Liverpool next month.

Recent FA Cup joy, and the prospect of more, comes at the right time for Argyle following the departure of manager Wayne Rooney and could be a bright spark in an otherwise tough season.

Hazard knows the ups and downs of football all too well and is not short of experience when it comes to the trials and tribulations of the sport.

He started his career with Cliftonville before earning a big move to boyhood club Celtic, where he was promoted to he first team by manager Brendan Rodgers back in the 2017-18 season.

However, with Craig Gordon and Dorus De Vries ahead of him in the pecking order, game time proved elusive and a series of loans ensued.

The first two temporary moves saw him line out for Falkirk and Partick Thistle respectively, before a couple of spells with Dundee followed.

On his return to the Hoops, Hazard impressed on his competitive debut, make a save to deny Lille an equaliser in a 3-2 Europa League win over the French side.

Perhaps the highlight of his career to date though, was a duo of saves in a penalty shootout victory over Hearts in the 2020 Scottish Cup final.

It looked likely Hazard’s career in Scotland would kick on from there, but he fell out of favour with the then new manager Ange Postecoglou and was forced to make a loan move to HJK Helsinki in the Finnish top division.

There he won the first league title of his career and claimed goalkeeper of the year — something that earned him a move to current club Plymouth in 2023.

While the current Northern Ireland international has gone on to make 39 appearances for the English Championship side, none have come against opposition as high up the food chain as Liverpool.

He will be hoping to somewhat mirror his performance against Brentford as his team look to spring a surprise with what could be the cup upset of the season but, regardless of what happens, it is sure to be a momentous occasion.

Plymouth Argyle will welcome Liverpool to Home Park on Saturday, February 8, at 3pm.