League Cup: Liverpool’s woes grow with 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace; Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea win

Liverpool fielded a weakened team and were severely punished in a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in the League Cup on Wednesday, the latest setback for the beleaguered English champions.

Ismaila Sarr scored two first-half goals at Anfield and Yeremy Pino added a third goal for Palace, which handed Liverpool a sixth defeat in their last seven games in all competitions.

Premier League leaders Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea also advanced to the quarter-finals, while defending champions Newcastle defeated Tottenham 2-0.

After four successive defeats in their faltering Premier League title defense, Liverpool are now out of one of the two domestic cups in what is proving to be an unexpectedly poor start to the season for a club that spent $570 million in the summer transfer window.

This latest loss can at least be explained by manager Arne Slot resting most of his top players – such as Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak – and not even benching them.

A team made up mainly of young players was taken apart by Sarr, who scored in the 41st and 45th minutes to add to his goals for Palace in victories over Liverpool in the Community Shield – in a penalty shootout – and the Premier League already this season.

Amara Nallo, an 18-year-old defender, came on as a substitute for Liverpool in the 67th minute and was sent off 12 minutes later for being the last defender to commit a foul. In his only other appearance for the Reds – in the Champions League in January – Nallo was also shown a red card four minutes after coming on as a substitute.

Pino scored Palace’s third goal in the 88th.

«It could increase a bit, but not so much because the pressure was already very high,» said Slot, whose team will play their next three games against Aston Villa, Real Madrid and Man City from Saturday.

“Everyone can have their opinion,” he added of his team selection, “but with the squad we have – maybe 15, 16 first-team players available – this is the choice I made.”

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Max Dowman became Arsenal’s youngest ever starter, at 15 years and 302 days, in the team’s 2–0 win over Brighton.

The leaders also played against a weakened team, but that did not bother them, with Ethan Nwaneri and Bukayo Saka – coming on as a substitute for Dowman – scoring the goals.

Man City came from behind to beat second division Swansea 3-1, with Jeremy Doku, Omar Marmoush and the impressive Rayan Cherki scoring.

Prolific City striker Erling Haaland was given complete rest and did not even make it to the bench.

Chelsea managed to beat Wolverhampton 4-3 in a wild match at Molineux, with a fifth red card of the season for Enzo Maresca’s ill-disciplined team.

Chelsea led 3-0 at halftime thanks to goals from Andrey Santos, Tyrique George and Estevao, but Wolves responded through Tolu Arokodare and David Moller Wolfe.

Liam Delap, making his return from injury, was sent off in the 86th for receiving two yellow cards, before Jamie Gittens made it 4-2. Wolfe scored again for Wolves, the Premier League’s last-placed team, in stoppage time.

Newcastle’s first goal against Tottenham – a Fabian Schar header from a corner – was controversial, with the set piece being waved in just as Spurs defender Djed Spence stood up after putting his boot back on.

Tottenham’s protests to the referee were ignored, and Nick Woltemade added a second by heading in a cross for goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, who missed his attempted free-kick.

Published on October 30, 2025