10 hours ago
45
Arne Slot gave a special mention to three of his Liverpool players following the win over Southampton - although he wasn't all that impressed with his side’s performance in the Carabao Cup.
The Reds booked their place in the fourth round of the competition with a 2-1 win at Anfield, although they were made to work for their victory against their Championship opponents.
Alexander Isak grabbed his first goal for his new club before Shea Charles threatened to take the game to a penalty shootout, only for Hugo Ekitike to strike late to send Liverpool through - and get himself sent off with his celebrations in the process.
Having promised to make changes following the Merseyside derby victory over Everton at the weekend, Slot stuck to his word as he changed his entire starting lineup.
Goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili and defender Giovanni Leoni were handed their competitive debuts for the club, although the latter’s evening ended on a worrying note after he was stretchered off during the second half.
Nevertheless, Slot saw the performance of his two debutants, as well as that of Federico Chiesa, as the biggest positives in an otherwise underwhelming display.
"Not our best performance,” Slot said as he summed it up to ITV Sport.
“You can expect that if you play a complete new team. So many players that haven't played for a long time.
“There were positives, Giorgi Mamardashvili had a good game, Federico Chiesa and Giovanni Leoni had a good game. A first goal for Alexander and another from Hugo.
"Positives from the game but how we played as a team - not taking anything away from Southampton because they played well - it wasn't our best performance."
Liverpool will now turn its attention back to Premier League matters, with a trip to Crystal Palace awaiting on Saturday as the Reds look to continue their perfect start to their title defense.
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Ekitike’s red card will present Slot with an added headache, with the striker now suspended for the game at Selhurst Park, while Isak’s minutes continue to be managed carefully following his deadline day arrival.
“I didn’t really understand it,” Slot said on Ekitike’s sending-off.
“Maybe I’m a bit old-fashioned and old school, but if I would have scored a goal after going past three men and then hit it into the top corner, I would maybe celebrate it completely by myself, but if I got an assist like that from Federico Chiesa, I would have probably turned around and pointed at him like ‘you’ve made this whole goal for me’.
“That’s why I was a bit surprised how he celebrated it, and then even worse took his shirt off and got a second yellow.”
English (US) ·