Liverpool FC Makes Mad Gamble After $500 Million Splurge

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 29: Arne Slot, Manager of Liverpool reacts during the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace at Anfield on October 29, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

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You might think that, having lost five of the previous six games, Arne Slot would resist the urge to prioritise specific competitions over others and go for the win.

However, the Liverpool boss clearly felt that securing a victory in the Carabao Cup against Crystal Palace was of lesser importance than achieving a win against Aston Villa or Real Madrid in the club’s next fixtures.

In explaining his decision to leave much of his trusted starters out of the matchday squad and field a team of teenagers that lost 0-3 at home, the Dutchman cited fatigue and its impact on the club’s poor run of form.

“It is always a blow to lose a game of football, especially if it leads to going out of a competition,” he said.

“But it is the same selection I did tonight as I did last season in rounds like this.

“There are many reasons, maybe, why we’ve lost six out of seven – none of them are good enough to accept losing so many. I can come up with arguments or reasons, but none of them will be enough to go to that standard because at Liverpool losing six out of seven is always too much.

“If I look at our performance against Brentford, to use that as an example, two days after we played [Eintracht] Frankfurt away, I saw there a team that maybe struggled with playing three games in seven days.

“Again, not an excuse to lose that game of football, but it is not a complete surprise to me if I see some of the struggles some players have had in pre-season and players that came from different leagues and it is a new challenge for them to play at Premier League and Champions League level in three games in seven days.”

Slot must know that, given the club’s half-billion-dollar summer spend, complaints about the schedule or his squad will cut little mustard.

However, he actually pushed back harder and claimed, with a straight face, that the number of players available to him really limited him.

“In two days we play [Aston] Villa and the last time I played a player we thought was ready for their programme but it turned out maybe he wasn’t was Alexander Isak when he went out with an injury [at Frankfurt].

“Last time we played Southampton, Giovanni Leoni went out with an injury in a game like this and we got the red card for Hugo Ekitike after two yellows.

“I think at this moment in time, with only 15 or 16 players available – and I am talking then about players of our squad available.

“And to add to that this club has always used this competition to use their academy players as well – the non-starters and the academy players – it felt to me as the right decision and I haven’t changed my opinion about that after the result because with our starters we haven’t been able to win a lot from Palace as well.”

A win, regardless of it coming in the Carabao Cup, would have relieved some of the pressure on Slot and his side, given their rotten run of form.

The trouble is that anything less than victory against an ever-improving Aston Villa side will be seen as a poor reflection on the manager’s decision-making.

Slot, as he might have expected, tried to play that down when asked if the need to succeed was more intense.

“I don’t think it is possible if you lose six out of seven that there is even more pressure,” he told reporters after the game.

“If you are on a run of results like this, if you play for Liverpool, if you manage Liverpool, you know the pressure is there.

“I don’t think it has changed much after this loss, but if it did then maybe the most positive thing about tonight was the position we were in, 2-0 down and we weren’t really pushing for a goal because we weren’t able to, the fans were behind the team and supporting us.

“That gives me the feeling on Saturday when our players will show how much it means to them, our fans will be incredibly supportive for us on Saturday.

“Again, we face a team that has rested in the week to play us and that’s Villa.”

Not everyone saw Arne Slot’s decision quite as favorably. Speaking on the BBC, former Liverpool and England defender Stephen Warnock slammed the manager’s decision.

“Arne Slot has almost admitted there that the squad is not strong enough,” Warnock told BBC Radio 5 Live. “It was very much deflecting and making excuses.

“You’re a team in the Champions League, yet you’re moaning that you’re playing a game two days later. You know that is going to happen. I felt there were a lot of excuses in there. You know your squad depth isn’t the best, then your business hasn’t been good enough in the summer.”

Liverpool spent half a billion dollars to strengthen its Premier League-winning team in the summer, so it is a poor reflection on the outlay if the coach still feels like he can’t field a full-strength side for a midweek game.

It is a decision that will, of course, melt into the background should Liverpool record back-to-back victories in the upcoming games.

However, if the Reds falter, this will exacerbate the situation.

As BBC pundit Pat Nevin pointed out, this only occurs because the Carabao Cup is not at the top of the list of priorities.

“Arne Slot has shown it is secondary, and it is certainly not as important as the games coming up,” he said.

“Yes, there will be a bit more stick. There will be a realisation among Liverpool fans, who aren’t daft, the fact is they have already won this competition.

“Liverpool have gone heavier for the big names with huge transfer fees compared to a bulkier squad, and it is noticeable now.”

A 0-3 reverse at home to Crystal Palace is never something Slot would have wanted to endure.

Yet when he fielded a team of teenagers, he must have known it was a possibility.

A win against Aston Villa this weekend has never felt more crucial.