October 30, (THEWILL) — Liverpool suffered a damaging 3–0 defeat to Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup fourth round on Wednesday evening, extending their miserable run to six losses in seven matches. Arne Slot’s heavily rotated side fell behind to two first-half goals from Ismaïla Sarr, who has now found the net in all three encounters between the clubs this season.
The Liverpool manager made 10 changes from the weekend loss to Brentford, with Milos Kerkez the sole player retained in the starting line-up. Academy prospects filled the bench entirely, whilst Slot switched to a back three to mirror Palace’s system. Despite a bright opening from 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha, who created an early opportunity with a curling effort, Federico Chiesa wasted the visitors’ clearest chances before Sarr struck twice to put the tie beyond reach before the interval.
The second half offered little improvement for the home side, who struggled to penetrate Palace’s organised defence and test goalkeeper Walter Benítez. Slot introduced several youngsters late on, including debutant Wellity Lucky, Kaide Gordon and Amara Nallo, though the substitutions appeared to concede defeat rather than spark a comeback.
Nallo’s appearance lasted barely minutes before the 18-year-old centre-back received his second red card in as many senior outings for the club. The dismissal, for pulling down Justin Devenny when through on goal, mirrored his sending-off against PSV Eindhoven last season on his debut in the UEFA Champions League.
Yéremy Pino compounded Liverpool’s woes in stoppage time, curling his first goal for Palace into the far corner to complete a comprehensive victory for the visitors. The result leaves Slot facing mounting pressure after another dismal performance from a side desperately low on confidence and form.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
