1 day ago
22
Liverpool has made wholesale changes to its starting XI for the visit of Crystal Palace in the League Cup, with Freddie Woodman starting in goal and Trey Nyoni and Kieran Morrison in from the off.
Calvin Ramsay starts at right-back with Joe Gomez and Andy Robertson partnering up in the middle of the defense. Milos Kerkez gets a chance at left-back after he struggled at the weekend against Brentford.
In midfield, Wataru Endo is alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Nyoni. Morrison is on the right wing, with Federico Chiesa up top and Rio Ngumoha, the exciting young forward on the left.
"It goes without saying that our recent form has not reached the standards that you expect of us or that we expect of ourselves," Slot writes in the official matchday program.
"This is, of course, a major disappointment, especially given the positive start we made to the season. From our perspective, there are no excuses.
"Yes, we are aware of the reasons and we will discuss them, but the one thing we cannot and will not do is use them as an excuse. Our responsibility is to recognize what is happening and put things right. There is no other option.
"Part of this process involves being hurt. We should be hurt by results like Saturday's when we lost to Brentford, and we should use the feelings this creates to further fuel our motivation.
"Not that anyone could accuse the players of a lack of effort — if anything, the opposite is true — but how we use this effort and desire is what will make the difference.
"Tonight's fixture gives us an opportunity to take a step forward, not just in this competition but also in our season as a whole.
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
"That it comes against an opponent that continues to prove itself to be very strong means this will be a testing cup tie but, again, this is the kind of challenge that we have to embrace.
"Of course, we have already faced Palace in the Premier League this season and the result on that occasion was not what we would have hoped for. Credit to Palace for that.
"Their winning goal came very late on that occasion after we had equalized following a difficult first half for us.
"We should be aware not just of the problems they can cause but also of their ability to keep going until the final whistle."
English (US) ·