Liverpool were on the receiving end of a 3-0 defeat against Crystal Palace in the fourth round of the EFL Cup on October 29 at Anfield.
Palace’s Ismaila Sarr scored a brace in the concluding minutes of the first half. Liverpool were left with 10 men on the pitch after Amara Nallo was sent off for receiving a red card in the 79th minute.
Yeremy Pino netted the third and last goal of the match after being set up by Jefferson Lerma in the 88th minute.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot took a major tactical risk with his team selection against Palace, making 10 changes in his playing squad in comparison to the Reds’ 3-2 Premier League loss to Brentford on Sunday.
Milos Kerkez was the only player from the squad against Brentford who featured in the EFL Cup clash.
Slot’s decision to rest key players, including Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Alexander Isak, in the match, which ended in Liverpool’s elimination from the competition. has brought in much criticism for the Dutch manager.
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Liverpool have been underwhelming in their form lately, suffering six defeats in their last seven matches across competitions.
After already losing 2-1 against Palace in the Premier League last month, the Reds’ recent defeat against the Eagles brought down their chance of claiming silverware this season.
Speaking before Wednesday’s loss at Anfield, Slot explained the idea of his team selection against Palace and told Sky Sports,
“People who follow this club know we use this competition for younger players. We want to create a pathway for them, to play in front of 60,000 people, in front of our own fans, that’s one reason,” as per GOAL.
“The other is that we only have four or five injuries but if I have to play again the same players. There are multiple reasons why we have lost so many games, no excuses to lose so many but it hasn’t been helpful that almost every time we have only two days in between and after we have had to play away, and then again an away game, so we keep playing the same players.”
“Like for example I tried with Alexander Isak, players who missed out on pre-season, it is a big risk of another injury, and we only have at this moment in time 15, 16 senior players available.”
While the crushing defeat raised questions over Slot’s team selection, Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner has shared the opinion that the scrutiny is ‘disrespectful’ to Liverpool players.
What did Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner say?
During his post-match press conference, Glasner dismissed the subtle suggestions that Palace’s win came against a weaker Liverpool squad and said,
“It was Arne Slot’s decision and we never care what other teams are doing. We told the players but it would be disrespectful to all their players,” as per LiverpoolWorld.
“I’ve seen Joe Gomez play for England, win the Champions League, seen Wataru Endo I don’t know how many games for Japan, I’ve seen Alexis Mac Allister, he won the World Cup as a starter, Kerkez moved for ÂŁ40m, [Federico] Chiesa plays for the [Italy] national team, Ngumoha has shown he can score goals in the Premier League.”
“It was still a good team and everyone is a member of the Liverpool squad. I was never good enough to be in the Liverpool squad. Maybe it was not the strongest team, but still a very good Liverpool side.”
While Palace have advanced to the EFL Cup quarter finals, Liverpool will be hoping to return to winning ways in their upcoming Premier League match against Aston Villa on November 1 at Anfield.
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