Liverpool coach complains about squad depth after latest defeat
Arne Slot led his team to the Premier League title last year but he is now struggling to get the best out of his expensive summer signings.
Liverpool slumped to another disappointing defeat on Wednesday night, exiting the Carabao Cup with a 3-0 home loss to Crystal Palace.
The reigning English champions have now lost six of their last seven games, taking them from Premier League front-runners to a team that looks devoid of confidence. In Wednesday’s loss Liverpool coach Arne Slot opted to rotate his team, leaving the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo, Florian Wirtz, Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitike out of the squad.
Speaking after the game Slot was quizzed on his decisions but the Dutchman insisted that he had little choice but to make changes.
He explained: “Last time we played Southampton here in the League Cup, [Giovanni] Leoni got injured, and we don’t have such a big squad as people might tell, because there was so much focus on the amount of money we spent.
“People all of a sudden think we have 25 players available but we mainly have 20 players then we have four injuries.”
🚨 Arne Slot: “I saw Manchester City's starting eleven and they didn't have one starter from the weekend but it felt like their best team”.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 30, 2025
“That is a bit of an insight. Chelsea can bring Estevao in… then after I made two substitutions tonight, we had six teenagers”. pic.twitter.com/0MLriXOYp2
However Palace manager Oliver Glasner took a different view on the Liverpool team, arguing that it was “disrespectful” to say that his side had faced a weakened Liverpool.
Glasner said: “I’ve seen Joe Gomez play for England, win the Champions League, seen Wataru Endo I don’t know how many games for Japan, I’ve seen Alexis Mac Allister, he won the World Cup as a starter, Kerkez moved for £40m, [Federico] Chiesa plays for the [Italy] national team, Ngumoha has shown he can score goals in the Premier League."
“It was still a good team and everyone is a member of the Liverpool squad. I was never good enough to be in the Liverpool squad. Maybe it was not the strongest team, but still a very good Liverpool side.”
Things won’t get any easier for Liverpool next weekend, when they host Aston Villa at Anfield. Villa come into the game on the back of a four-match winning streak in the Premier League, now level on points with Liverpool.
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