Arne Slot rolled the dice and lost as Liverpool crashed out of the Carabao Cup in embarrassing fashion, beaten 3-0 by Crystal Palace at a stunned Anfield. The Dutchman’s heavily rotated side, packed with teenagers and fringe players, were torn apart by a ruthless Eagles outfit who fully deserved their place in the quarter-finals.
Slot made ten changes from the team that lost 3-2 at Brentford at the weekend, naming three teenagers in his starting eleven and another five on the bench. With no senior attackers in sight and most of the first team rested, the Reds looked vulnerable from the start.
Ismaila Sarr struck twice in four brutal minutes before half time to leave Liverpool shell-shocked. The Senegalese forward punished slack defending first by capitalising on a Joe Gomez mistake, then again when he was given far too much room to collect a Yeremy Pino pass and curl home his second.
Pino himself added a third late on, a cool low finish that sealed a famous win for Oliver Glasner’s side. Liverpool’s miserable night got worse when 18-year-old defender Amara Nallo was sent off for dragging down Justin Devenny as he broke clear on goal.
Slot’s youthful selection was forced by a lengthy absentee list. Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo, Florian Wirtz, Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitike were all missing, leaving the bench with no player older than 21. What followed was a tame exit from a competition Liverpool have won twice in the past four seasons.
Federico Chiesa, the hero of last season’s League Cup final run, had two golden chances but failed to take them, firing one effort over and seeing another saved by Walter Benitez. Those misses summed up a toothless Liverpool display that lacked leadership and composure.
For Palace, captain Marc Guehi led by example in defence. The centre-back, whose summer move to Liverpool collapsed on deadline day, looked every inch the player the Reds might soon regret not signing. With his contract up next summer, this performance will only reignite transfer talk.
Slot, who guided Liverpool to the Premier League title in his debut season, pointed to a gruelling fixture list as justification for his selection. The Reds face Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday, Real Madrid in the Champions League next Tuesday and Manchester City the following weekend.
There were brief flashes of promise from 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha, whose lively dribbling drew cheers from the Kop, but otherwise it was a sobering reminder of the gulf between Liverpool’s potential and their current form.
This was their sixth defeat in seven games, and as Palace celebrated in the pouring rain, Slot trudged down the tunnel knowing his brave gamble had backfired spectacularly.