Liverpool 0 – 3 C Palace

Liverpool suffered defeat once again – but it was Arne Slot’s ‘surprising’ team selection which helped Crystal Palace to an easy 3-0 victory at Anfield and a place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, where they will face Arsenal.

Slot’s much-changed line-up was unable to handle Ismaila Sarr, who bagged a double to continue his scoring streak against Liverpool, while Yeremy Pino added a classy late finish to help the scoreline reflect the Eagles’ dominance.

The Reds have now lost six of their last seven games across all competitions and there’s huge pressure on their returning first-teamers to deliver a momentum-changing result when they host Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday night.

Liverpool supporters will have hoped for that mood-shifting scoreline to come in this cup tie but the odds were stacked against the home team when Slot left his star players such as Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk out of his squad, made 10 changes to his starting XI and filled his bench with inexperienced youngsters.

Slot reasoned that there were injury concerns around some key figures and that Liverpool traditionally use this competition to give young players game time. It was music to the ears of a Palace team which had arrived on Merseyside hoping to end a four-game winless run of their own.

Liverpool’s fringe team started with enthusiasm but the FA Cup holders took control as the first half wore on. Sarr then made the difference. His first goal was accurately converted after the ball broke to him in the box and Milos Kerkez switched off.

Sarr’s second came from an excellent reverse pass from Pino. The Senegal international has now scored against Liverpool four times this season, having also found the net in the Community Shield and the Premier League clash at Selhurst Park. He converted his penalty in the shootout at Wembley too, in what has been a clean sweep of victories for the south Londoners.

Liverpool’s frustrations boiled over in the second half when Federico Chiesa clashed with Justin Devenny and was booked. He had blazed a half-chance over in the first half with the score at 0-0 but his relentless running went largely unsupported.

Devenny was then tumbled by Amara Nallo as he ran through on goal, with the 18-year-old shown a straight red card – just as he had been on his Champions League debut in January. That left Liverpool further exposed and Pino took full advantage, running at teenage debutant Wellity Lucky before curling into the bottom corner.

As well as Lucky, Freddie Woodman and 18-year-old Kieran Morrison made their first Liverpool appearances but, other than their personal milestones, there were few positives for Slot and Liverpool to take from a rain-soaked night at Anfield. Their miserable run of form goes on and, with one less cup to play for, fears of a further slide out of Premier League contention will dominate supporters’ minds in the coming days before Saturday’s meeting with Villa.

Redknapp: Slot made a mistake with his team selection

Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp:

“It was the wrong team. Make no mistake. He picked a team today that made it really difficult for himself. You’ve not helped the young players because of the players that are around them. You’ve made 10 changes from Brentford.

“You can’t tell me that he’s picked that team today and those subs thinking ‘that will get me a result against a really good Crystal Palace’. You might hope you can. I didn’t believe for one second they could beat them. He’s made a mistake today.

“He’s been unbelievable since he’s come to the club. He’s under some real pressure, but that’s football. That’s the price on the ticket. They climbed the mountain last season and were absolutely sensational. Now they’ve got to go back to that character they showed when they won the title and stick together.”

Slot defends selection but says Liverpool below their standards

Liverpool boss Arne Slot:

“It’s not of Liverpool’s standards to lose five out of six, or six out of seven.

“Everybody can have their opinion about [the selection] but with the squad we have – maybe 15, 16 first-team players available – this is the choice I’ve made.”

On the performance: “First half an hour, we made it a game. Actually maybe we had the better chances in that first half hour.

“But after we conceded the 1-0 and just before half-time the 2-0, I knew, we knew, I think everybody in the stadium knew it would be very difficult to play against a structured team which, until now, I think it was only the Community Shield game where we were able to score twice against them. Especially with a team that hasn’t played together many times.”

Glasner happy with progression after slow start

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner:

“A fantastic result. I wasn’t very pleased with the first 15 minutes, it looked as if we were still in our hotel beds. But then we did very well, we scored very nice goals, we created a few good chances. We missed a few situations where our last ball wasn’t in the best way. But overall, winning 3-0 at Anfield is a great result. Winning three times in three months against Liverpool is exceptional.”