Exeter City lead Premier League side Liverpool 2-1 at the interval of their third-round clash in the FA Cup.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp selected a much-changed XI for the clash in Exeter, with Christian Benteke captaining a team that included the likes of Jose Enrique, Ryan Kent, Jerome Sinclair and Tiago Ilori.

Backed by the vocal home support, Exeter attempted to gain a foothold in the early exchanges, with Alex Nicholls, Tom Nichols and Lee Holmes all enjoying possession of the ball, and the League Two outfit took the lead in the ninth minute when Nichols, who had found space inside the box, converted a low cross from Jamie Reid.

Liverpool went straight down the other end and had a half-chance when the ball dropped to Brad Smith inside the box, but his effort was blocked en route to goal. The Reds were level in the 12th minute, however, when Sinclair, who will be out of contract this summer, converted from inside the box after some slack defending from the hosts.

Joao Teixeira was next to come close for Liverpool, who responded well to the early setback, but the midfielder's strike was deflected wide of the post by Jordan Tillson as Exeter were forced to spend a period defending their own penalty box.

Liverpool again came close in the 24th minute through Cameron Brannagan, but Robert Olejnik was on hand to make a smart save.

Exeter's next best opportunity came just before the 30-minute mark after more slack defending from the Premier League side, but David Noble could only fire over the crossbar from close range as the score remained 1-1.

Christian Ribeiro then had an excellent chance for the hosts in the 41st minute, but the Welshman's stooped header just missed the post. Exeter still had time to enter the break ahead, however, as Holmes found the back of the net directly from a corner in the first minute of added time.