Arne Slot explains why he was ‘almost happy’ for Liverpool to lose one particular game this term | OneFootball

Arne Slot has made the surprising admission that he was ‘almost happy’ for Liverpool to lose one game in particular this season.

Excluding penalty shootouts, the Reds have already lost nine times in all competitions this term – matching their tally from the whole of 2024/25 – and one of those came at Anfield in late October when Crystal Palace romped to a 3-0 victory in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

Our exit from that tournament means that, for the first time since the final week of August, LFC have a free midweek outside of the international windows, with the head coach candidly voicing his relief at an easing of his team’s fixture congestion.

Slot has had further inury concerns to contend with this week, and in his pre-Brighton press conference on Friday morning, his reply to one reporter’s question about Liverpool’s squad depth was eye-opening.

(Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Slot ‘almost happy’ to be knocked out of Carabao Cup

The Reds boss said (via liverpoolfc.com): “I think it is helpful in the upcoming weeks we don’t play as many games as we did until now. I wonder if there have been more teams that have three games in seven days this season. I think we’ve had to do it three times already this season. What can I say about this?

“I am almost happy that we’re out of the League Cup, because if we had to play with 13 outfield players available with any Premier League experience – we have more available, of course, but not players that have Premier League experience – and we have to go [to] Arsenal away on Tuesday again after already so many games played, maybe, people can understand a little bit better why I made that line-up against Palace, which wasn’t good for me but I did another decision I made for the team.”

(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Should Slot be so dismissive of the chance to win a trophy?

Slot’s concerns about squad depth and Liverpool’s fixture workload are entirely understandable – the Reds have already played 24 matches across all competitions in the past four months, and many of their players had another half-dozen games for their countries in that time.

However, after a summer transfer window in which almost £450m was spent on new recruits, one could legitimately question how the Dutchman has found himself in a position whereby he feels compelled to effectively write off one potential trophy because he thinks his squad isn’t deep enough.

Also, while it’s undeniable that the Carabao Cup is widely regarded as the lowest priority competition for LFC at the start of each season, it’s one in which this club has a proud tradition, having won it more times (10) than anyone else.

With the exception of 2019/20, when Liverpool were put in an awkward bind because of a clash with the Club World Cup, no Reds manager should be dismissive of the opportunity to win any trophy, and Slot could’ve done with a morale-boosting win in late October after a dreadul run of results that month.

As it is, it’s Palace rather than us who are off to face Arsenal in the quarter-finals. It’s disappointing that the chance of a third successive Carabao Cup final has gone, but if the reduced workload over the winter (we’ve only two more matches in December after tomorrow) helps to aid recovery times for some of our injured players, at least that result against the Eagles will have had some mild benefit.

You can watch Slot’s full post-Inter Milan press conference below, via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: