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beth lindop
LIVERPOOL, England — As the skies opened up over Anfield, TV cameras started rolling liverpool Dug out.
Behind head coach Arne Slott, his bench of substitutes — mohammed salah, alexander isaacAnd florian wertz – Sitting shoulder to shoulder in the stands to avoid cold. The trio have more than 500 career goals between them, but on Wednesday night, they were unable to do anything other than watch Liverpool. lost 3-0 By crystal Palace In Carabao Cup,
10 changes have been made since 3-2 defeat on Saturday But brentfordSlott would have known that such an outcome was highly likely. Liverpool’s growing injury list and upcoming schedule means the Dutchman will always be governed by a desire to protect his senior stars when selecting his team for the fourth-round clash.
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Still, as Slott himself noted on several occasions last season, nothing good comes from losing games. The form book shows that Liverpool have now lost six of their last seven games in all competitions, with a crisis threatening to engulf a campaign which many had predicted would end with a second. Premier League Title victory.
At present, Slott’s side’s chances of winning any silverware this term look bleak. Of course, for the first time in three years, they will not be at Wembley Stadium when the winner of this competition is decided. Ismailia Sarr’s Double and a late strike in the first half yremy pino Sending the Reds on another extremely disappointing night.
Milos Kerkez He was the only player to retain his place in the starting eleven at Brentford alongside fellow left back andy robertson partnership joe gomez Back to center. calvin ramsay – making his first senior appearance for Liverpool in three years – started at right back, while the slot also gave debuts to both goalkeepers freddy woodman And 18 year old winger Kieran Morrison,
Despite huge changes in personnel, Liverpool started the match well, producing a really impressive performance Rio Ngumoha Delighting the home crowd with a typically lively display on the left flank. But, from the moment Sarr headed home in the 41st minute after a heavy touch from Gomez inside the penalty area, it was clear there was only going to be one winner.
That feeling of inevitability increased when senegal The international – who has now scored seven goals in nine career matches against the Reds – doubled his goal tally on the stroke of halftime on the evening, with Pino’s curling effort providing the icing on the cake for Palace, who are now unbeaten in four matches against Liverpool for the first time in their history.
While Slott, for most of his tenure, has been able to rely on his bench to change games, the lack of senior reinforcements against Oliver Glasner’s side made it almost impossible to accomplish any kind of defending. There were only nine first-team appearances among Liverpool’s substitute players, and when the defender Amara Nalo Given a straight red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity just 12 minutes into the second half.
The 18-year-old may one day find the answer to an unedited quiz question, which has also been sent down in his only other appearance for Liverpool: lost 3-2 To psv eindhoven in February.
Yet, the responsibility for this latest defeat lies not with them but with their head coach, who is undoubtedly now going through the most difficult period of his managerial career. For the second game in a row, as his team headed towards another demoralizing defeat, the Dutchman was chanted by opposition supporters: “You’re being sacked in the morning”.
“I don’t think it’s possible if you lose five out of six – now after six out of seven – [that you have] Even more pressure,” Slott said when asked about the possible consequences of his team being eliminated from the cup.
“If you’re in a race for results like this, if you play for Liverpool, if you manage Liverpool, you know there’s pressure. And I don’t think that changed much after this defeat, but if it did, the most positive thing about tonight was that we were 2-0 down, and we weren’t really pushing for a goal, the fans were behind the team, supporting us. And that’s what impressed me about that.” “Feels like on Saturday, the fans will be incredibly supportive when our players show how much it means to them.”
Of course, Slott is not the first manager to announce changes for a cup tie. Jurgen Klopp has named similarly inexperienced lineups on several occasions fa cupbeating both of them everton And shrewsbury town With new teams in the 2019–20 Premier League title-winning season.
The applause from the home supporters at the full-time whistle shows there is still huge support for the slot on Merseyside. But, by deciding to rest his senior stars, the Dutchman has increased the pressure heading into this weekend’s clash Aston VillaNow, they must hope that their gamble does not backfire.
