**Liverpool exited the Carabao Cup at the hands of Crystal Palace.**
The visitors broke a much-changed Premier League champions’ resolve shortly before the interval when Ismaila Sarr rifled home in front of The Kop.
Arne Slot’s side fell further behind on the stroke of half-time as Sarr inflicted the damage once more, this time scooping the ball past Freddie Woodman.
Things went from bad to worse for the Reds after the interval as they were reduced to 10 men for Amara Nallo’s last-man challenge on Justin Devenny.
But the Eagles were able to inflict one final blow in the game’s closing stages courtesy of Yeremy Pino, who slotted comfortably beyond Woodman.
_Here were they key talking points from Anfield:_
Slot’s line-up gamble backfires
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Liverpool’s penchant for using this competition as a proving ground for youth players was given fresh definition with their line-up against Palace.
Despite six established first-teamers in the starting XI, a dearth of experience on the substitutes’ bench offered a sign of where Arne Slot’s priorities now lie.
Just nine senior appearances had been accumulated by those in reserve and more than two-thirds of that figure belonged to playmaker Kaide Gordon.
Many match-going supporters will have felt incredibly short-changed by the Reds head coach’s selections, particularly in the current ‘boom or bust’ cycle.
A fifth straight domestic defeat equalled an ignominious post-war stat from September 1953, a season when Anfield was plunged into the second tier.
The odds of Liverpool going from champions to the Championship within 12 months remain remote but Slot has left himself little room for manoeuvre.
Saturday’s visit of Aston Villa has now become even more of a must-win encounter than it was before Oliver Glasner’s side pitched up in L4.
Nallo’s rotten luck continues
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Receiving your marching orders once is human. To do it twice is careless.
Amara Nalllo could be forgiven for attempting to retrace his steps after picking up a second red card in as many appearances near the end of this encounter.
It felt like the teenage defender broke a mirror, walked under a ladder and ran over a black cat after picking up two red cards in 16 minutes of senior football.
He had already seen red once with a four-minute dismissal on his debut in last January’s Champions League dead-rubber defeat at PSV Eindhoven.
Nallo’s latest outing proved an increasingly thankless task with the hosts already two goals down and increasingly losing their grip by the minute.
This time he lasted 12 minutes before referee Craig Pawson sent him off for a last-man pull on Justin Devenny as the Eagles’ attacker surged towards goal.
Back-to-back early baths means the former West Ham prospect has already written his name into the Anfield history books but not in the way he hoped.
He can at least take heart from both Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate providing instant support in the dressing room after his latest mishap.
Is this a blessing in disguise?
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Exiting the first opportunity to win silverware this season at the second hurdle may feel like a thankless task but it may prove to be a blessing for Liverpool.
Slot has made no secret of his frustrations that the constant churn of games is an obstacle to his side being able to fine-tune things on the training pitches.
Granted, this was not the fashion in which the Dutchman will have wanted to reduce their commitments yet he might seek some solace in the timing.
After doing battle with Villa, the English champions host Real Madrid in a European clash before an equally unenviable trip to Manchester City.
Reshuffling his pack practically every three days has been a contributing factor in Liverpool’s ongoing malaise due to a lack of on-field cohesion.
That went hand-in-hand with a spate of injuries that rendered six players resident on the treatment table ahead of this Carabao Cup fourth round tie.
November’s international break will afford Slot ample time to reflect and assess how best to balance his squad for the next run of fixtures.
One less midweek contest to plan could potentially become season-defining.