Liverpool’s losing streak continued and they were eliminated by Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, with Arne Slott’s much-changed team comfortably winning at Anfield.
Liverpool’s loss to Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup means the Reds have lost six of their last seven games and “there will be more pressure on Arne Slott”, claims Stephen Warnock.
The Merseysiders’ dismal form saw them move from the top of the Premier League table to seventh, but their hopes of winning their first trophy of the season were dashed by the Eagles, who claimed their second win in five weeks.
Slott won huge praise for the way he led Liverpool to the title in his first season, but so far he and the team have struggled to build on that, while expectations are also rising after summer spending exceeded £400m.
The Dutchman named a much-changed squad as the Eagles headed to Anfield, but his defense of a young team without benching many of their heavy hitters ultimately backfired and allowed a worrying run of results to continue.
Warnock told the BBC: “I think there will be more pressure on Arne Slott. There will be more questions asked of him. Confidence is a huge thing in football. If you look at the way Liverpool players are playing right now, they’re second-guessing everything they’re doing in the moment. They’re questioning every decision they make on the football pitch and they’re playing mostly negative.”
read more: Arne Slott accused of engineering Liverpool’s young players to fail in Carabao Cup exitread more: Arne Slott gives honest view on job security at Liverpool after joining ‘not good enough’
By Wednesday, you had to go all the way back to 1953 to find the last time Liverpool had lost five in a row in a domestic competition. The only time they broke their losing streak recently was in the Champions League, when they beat Frankfurt.
The former Liverpool player claimed there was a lack of quality outside of the starting XI, particularly in certain positions. Despite having great depth in attack, question marks have been raised regarding the midfielders and defensive line.
He said: “When I looked at Liverpool’s team at the beginning of the season, I felt their starting eleven were as good as anyone else. But what did they have on the bench? We saw elements of that tonight, but they’re probably not as strong as we thought at the moment.”
Liverpool faced Palace without Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Dominic Szoboszlai, Kodi Gakpo, Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitike. Instead, they played the likes of Trey Nyoni, Wataru Endo, Calvin Ramsey and Freddie Woodman in goal.
Despite the massive turnover ultimately leading to a comprehensive defeat, Slott stood by his selection call, insisting it was normal for Liverpool to use the Carabao Cup as a stage for their academy players.
“This club has always used this competition for academy players as well,” said the Dutchman. “I felt like it was the right decision for me, and losing doesn’t change my mind.”
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