A desperately poor performance saw Liverpool crash out of the Carabao Cup at a rain-soaked Anfield. Crystal Palace ran out easy 3-0 winners, as the home side barely offered the visitors a game.
Arne Slot rang the changes following their most recent league defeat, but the team he selected was, frankly, woeful. There was a lack of purpose, intensity, and aggression, along with a lethargy that appears to have spread from the first team to the entire squad.
No doubt there’ll be those who don’t view this competition as important, and Slot will surely say he was protecting ‘bigger’ players from potential injury. If so, the mind boggles. Such an attitude is difficult to swallow when the team is winning, but, given so many defeats, it’s baffling that victory wasn’t seen as being close to essential. Instead, the game was thrown before kick-off.
Nobody will surely hold the kids that were selected responsible for what was a debilitating display. However, both Robertson and Gomez—the latter gifting Crystal Palace their first goal on forty minutes—were dreadful. Gomez looked as though center-half was a position he’d never played. Likewise, Chiesa, who, save for a weak left-footed effort in the first half, barely set foot in the penalty box all evening.
Crystal Palace meanwhile, with Sarr scoring two, look a team on the up: quick, powerful, bright in possession—all the things Liverpool haven’t been this season. Having won the FA Cup last season, they’ll believe another cup victory is more than a possibility, having progressed to the quarter-final.
Liverpool next face Aston Villa, a league game at Anfield under the lights on Saturday, that’s not far short of a must-win. With Real Madrid lying in waiting next week, Arne Slot will surely face some serious questions if this run of defeats stretches into next month.
