Slot defends decision to make ten changes in Crystal Palace loss | OneFootball

Arne Slot defended his decision to start an inexperienced line-up in Liverpool’s 3-0 EFL Cup loss to Crystal Palace at Anfield.

The Dutchman made ten changes to the team that lost 3-2 to Brentford at the weekend, including starting teenager Rio Ngumoha and Freddie Woodman in goal for his first-ever competitive Liverpool appearance.

Milos Kerkez has struggled at Liverpool since his move from Bournemouth in the summer but he was the only player to keep his place from the previous match.

“If I look at our performance against Brentford two days after we played Frankfurt away, I saw there a team that maybe struggled with playing three games in seven days – again, not an excuse,” he said.

“Which is not a complete surprise to me if I see the struggle some players have had in pre-season. And we haveplayers that came from different leagues, it’s a new challenge for them to play, at Premier League and Champions level, three games in seven days.

“So again in two days we play Villa and the last time I played a player that we thought was ready for that programme, but it turned out maybe he wasn’t, was Alexander Isak and he went out with an injury.

“Last time we played Southampton, Leoni went out with an injury in a game like this and we got a red card for Hugo Ekitike. I think in this moment in time, with only 15 or 16 players available, it felt to me that this was the right decision and I haven’t changed my opinion about that after the result.

“With our starters we haven’t been able to win a lot from Palace as well.”