League cup
London, Oct 30: Liverpool fielded a weakened team and got duly punished in a 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace in the League Cup on Wednesday, 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, which consigned Liverpool to a sixth defeat in its last seven games in all competitions.
Also advancing to the quarterfinals were Premier League leader Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea, while defending champion Newcastle beat Tottenham 2-0.
Liverpool in freefal
After four straight losses in its tottering Premier League title defense, Liverpool is now out of one of the two domestic cups in what is proving to be an unexpectedly poor start to the season for a club that spent $570 million in the summer transfer window.
This latest loss can at least be explained by manager Arne Slot resting most of his top players – like Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak – and not even putting them on the bench.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
“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 Man City starting 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.”
Arsenal record-breaker
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.
City comeback
Man City came from behind to beat second-tier Swansea 3-1, with Jeremy Doku, Omar Marmoush and the impressive Rayan Cherki scoring.Prolific City striker Erling Haaland was rested completely, not even making it onto the bench.
Chelsea’s latest red
Chelsea held on to 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.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 for collecting two yellow cards before Jamie Gittens made it 4-2. Wolfe scored again for Wolves, the Premier League’s last-placed team, in stoppage time. (AP)
