Slot’s Rotation Gamble Ends in Embarrassment as Chelsea, Arsenal, and Man City Advance
Liverpool’s nightmare run continued as Arne Slot’s youthful side were thrashed 3-0 by Crystal Palace at Anfield, crashing out of the Carabao Cup in front of stunned home fans.
The defeat marks Liverpool’s sixth loss in seven matches, piling pressure on the Dutch manager whose rotation experiment disastrously backfired.
Slot made ten changes from the side that lost 3-2 to Brentford, handing starts to three teenagers and naming five more on the bench. Without the experience of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo, Florian Wirtz, and Hugo Ekitike, the Reds were ruthlessly punished.
A defensive blunder from Joe Gomez gifted Ismaila Sarr an easy opener, before the Palace winger struck again minutes later to double the lead. Federico Chiesa missed Liverpool’s best chances, failing to convert key opportunities that could have turned the tide.
The evening went from bad to worse when 18-year-old Amara Nallo was shown a red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, and Yeremy Pino sealed the win with a composed late finish.
With no senior options to rescue the game, Liverpool’s youngsters looked disjointed, toothless, and overwhelmed. The loss intensifies scrutiny on Slot ahead of daunting fixtures against Aston Villa, Real Madrid, and Manchester City.
Meanwhile, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City all booked their spots in the quarter-finals.
Chelsea triumphed 4-3 over Wolves thanks to goals from Andrey Santos, Tyrique George, Estevao Willian, and Jamie Gittens.
At the Emirates, Arsenal saw off Brighton 2-0 through second-half strikes from Ethan Nwaneri and Bukayo Saka, while Manchester City came from behind to beat Swansea 3-1, inspired by a dazzling display from Rayan Cherki.
