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Pundit Frank Leboeuf has opined that Liverpool coach Arne Slot should have made more changes to his starting XI for the Carabao Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur. The Premier League leaders suffered a rare defeat, losing 0-1 to Ange Postecoglou's side in the first leg of the semi-final away from home.
Liverpool looked less sharp than usual as they dropped points against Manchester United at the weekend in the league. They suffered a second successive setback when Tottenham claimed a smash-and-grab victory at home, thanks to a fine strike by teenage star Lucas Bergvall.
ESPN pundit Leboueuf spoke via the network's UK YouTube channel about how Arne Slot could have set his side up differently for the game. He pointed out that the duo of Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah ought to have started on the bench in order to have enough rest ahead of the second leg.
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“I think he should have rotated a little bit more. It’s the first leg of a semifinal, so you have that game in the FA Cup against Accrington Stanley. So you have an opportunity to rest players and they need a rest. After the tough winter time, they need a rest before starting the craziness of the end of the season. It would have been more clever to rest someone like Van Dijk and maybe some others like Salah to make sure they can play the second leg," Leboueuf said.
Slot made several changes to his squad for the game against the depleted Spurs, naming youngsters Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah in the starting XI, as well as Kostas Tsimikas. The Reds could not find a way past their hosts, leaving them needing a win in the second leg at Anfield to progress.
Liverpool boss explains surprise Quansah substitution in Carabao Cup semi-final
Liverpool coach Arne Slot has explained the reason behind his substitution of youngster Jarell Quansah in the first half of the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Tottenham Hotspur. The England U-21 international was named in the starting XI for the Reds as their hosts claimed a 1-0 win.
Quansah came off shortly after the half-hour mark, with midfielder Wataru Endo taking his place on the pitch. In his post-match press conference, Slot explained that the young defender felt unwell, hence the decision to take him off in the first half.
“He didn’t feel really well, so from the moment the game started until the moment we had to take him off, he felt a pressure, I think he said on his chest. It went so fast: he came off and the game started again, so I have to ask him exactly, but he said he didn’t feel really well. It was not an injury, more not feeling really well. In the last few days he was a bit ill but we thought he was on his way back, but maybe that had something to do with it. I have to ask, but it had nothing to do with an injury," Slot said.
Liverpool lost to an 86th-minute strike from 18-year-old Swedish star Lucas Bergvall, who scored his first goal for Tottenham after being teed up by former Liverpool star Dominic Solanke. The Reds were shell-shocked by the defeat, having claimed a convincing 6-3 win over Tottenham in December.
