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Liverpool fielded a weakened team and were duly punished in a 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace in the League Cup, the latest setback to strike the beleaguered English champions.
Ismaila Sarr scored two first-half goals at Anfield and Yeremy Pino added a third for Palace, who consigned Liverpool to a sixth defeat in their past seven games in all competitions.
Also advancing to the quarter-finals on Wednesday (local time) were Premier League leaders Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle and Chelsea.
After four straight losses in their tottering Premier League title defence, Liverpool are now out of one of the two domestic cups in what is proving to be an unexpectedly poor start to the season.
This latest loss can at least be explained by manager Arne Slot resting most of his top players – including Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak – and not even putting them on the bench.
After the match, Slot tried to play down the pressure he and the club were under.
“It might increase a little bit but not so much because the pressure was already very high,” said Slot, whose team’s next three games are against Aston Villa, Real Madrid and Manchester City starting on Saturday.
“Everyone can have their opinion about it,” he added about his team selection, “but with the squad we have – maybe 15, 16 first-team players available – this is the choice I’ve made.”
A team filled mostly with youngsters was cut apart by Sarr, who scored in the 41st and 45th minutes to add to his goals for Palace in victories over Liverpool in the Community Shield – in a penalty shootout – and the Premier League already this season.
Amara Nallo, an 18-year-old defender, came on as a 67th-minute substitute for Liverpool and was sent off 12 minutes later for committing a foul as the last defender.
In his only other appearance for the Reds – in the Champions League in January – Nallo was also red-carded four minutes after coming on as a sub.
Pino scored Palace’s third goal in the 88th minute.
Max Dowman became Arsenal’s youngest-ever starter, at 15 years, 302 days, in the team’s 2-0 win over Brighton.
The league leaders also played a weakened team but that didn’t affect them, with Ethan Nwaneri and Bukayo Saka – on as a substitute for Dowman – netting the goals.
Manchester City came from behind to beat second-tier Swansea 3-1, with Jeremy Doku, Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki scoring.
Prolific City striker Erling Haaland was rested, not even making it onto the bench.
Chelsea beat Wolverhampton 4-3 in a wild match at Molineux featuring a fifth red card of the season for Enzo Maresca’s ill-disciplined team.
> 4 – Chelsea tonight against Wolves became the first Premier League side of all-time with four different scorers aged 21 or younger in a match in all competitions – Andrey Santos (21), Tyrique George (19), Estêvão (18) and Jamie Gittens (21). Gifted. [pic.twitter.com/fFP65skUrE](https://t.co/fFP65skUrE)
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> — OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) [October 29, 2025](https://twitter.com/OptaJoe/status/1983657410020638878?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
Chelsea went 3-0 up by halftime thanks to goals by Andrey Santos, Tyrique George and Estevao, only for Wolves to reply through Tolu Arokodare and David Moller Wolfe.
Liam Delap, making his comeback from injury, was sent off in the 86th minute for collecting two yellow cards, before Jamie Gittens made it 4-2.
Wolfe scored again for Wolves in stoppage time.
Newcastle’s first goal against Tottenham – a header from Fabian Schar at a corner – was contentious, with the set piece swung in just as Spurs defender Djed Spence got to his feet after putting his boot back on.
Tottenham’s protests to the referee were ignored, and Nick Woltemade added a second by heading in a cross ahead of goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, who missed his attempted punch clear.
© AAP