Carabao Cup fourth round: Liverpool v Crystal Palace, Wednesday, 7.45pm – Live on Sky Sports Premier League
Federico Chiesa has claimed Liverpool’s troubles are not long term and Arne Slot’s side will have answers for any long-ball tactics that Crystal Palace employ in the Carabao Cup.
Liverpool have lost twice to Palace this season, with last month’s reverse at Selhurst Park marking the start of a damaging sequence of five defeats in six games. The teams meet again at Anfield on Wednesday when Slot faces a dilemma over the extent of his rotation, given injury issues and recent results.
The head coach conceded after the latest defeat at Brentford on Saturday that Liverpool “haven’t found an answer yet” to the style of play they are regularly encountering. That includes low blocks, set pieces and long balls, but Chiesa insists the Premier League champions will be equipped to handle that approach in the fourth-round tie.
“We have players that are world class and that can be put in any situation and will perform, so I don’t see any problem,” the Liverpool forward said. “If Crystal Palace wants to play long ball and long throw-ins they are more than welcome to do so, because we’re going to answer them with high intensity and winning duels, and trying to win. I don’t know if you say this in English but [in Italy] we say: ‘Winning brings winning’. So we want to win tomorrow. That’s it.”
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Liverpool were top with a 100 per cent record when they visited Oliver Glasner’s team on September 27th but have not collected a Premier League point since. Chiesa admits the task of assimilating several new players is not the only issue with the side.
“It’s many reasons and there’s not just one thing,” he said. “We’re not winning. At the beginning of the season we were winning and no one was questioning this and that. Unfortunately it’s not [a good time] but I always think positive and I hope we’re going to bounce back. We have the quality and the players to do so and we have a fantastic manager so I don’t see any trouble. I hope there’s not going to be any trouble in the future.”
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The Italy international revealed the Liverpool dressingroom was silent after the 3-2 defeat at Brentford that has left them trailing the leaders, Arsenal, by seven points. “No one was speaking,” he said. “Because afterwards everyone knows. Sometimes you don’t have to speak about the situation. You know what’s going on.
“We have to think about what we can do better and usually when we are in this situation the first thing that comes to your mind is to give more, train harder. I think it was good that after the game we didn’t talk because it’s a sign that everyone wants to change.”
The third-choice goalkeeper Freddie Woodman could make his Liverpool debut against Palace with the youngsters Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha, who started the third-round win against Southampton, in contention. There could also be a place in the squad for the 18-year-old right winger Kieran Morrison, an unused substitute at Brentford. Curtis Jones is the latest injury concern for Slot on top of Alisson, Jeremie Frimpong, Alexander Isak, Ryan Gravenberch, Jayden Danns and Giovanni Leoni. – Guardian
