Kone-Doherty makes competitive Anfield debut but Liverpool well beaten by Crystal Palace

With Aston Villa, Real Madrid and Manchester City coming up, Arna Slot clearly felt playing a much change team was a risk worth taking. Time will be his judge.

DERRY BOY: Liverpool manager Arne Slot addresses Trent Kone-Doherty. Pic: Peter Byrne/PA Wire.

Liverpool 0 Crystal Palace 3

Arne Slot's big gamble backfired on the night. The Dutchman will discover in the next three games whether there will be a heavier price to pay.

Liverpool's manager rolled the dice despite a dire run of form which has unexpectedly undermined the Reds' season - and came up short again against a Palace team that has now inflicted three defeats on the Premier League champions in different competitions in the space of 80 days.

Ismaila Sarr showed his taste for Scouse remains unsated by scoring twice in five minutes in front of the Kop at the end of the first half.

Eagles boss Oliver Glasner worked the oracle against the Merseysiders by winning the Community Shield on penalties in August. He did a number on Slot again the following month when Liverpool arrived at Selhurst Park as convincing Premier League leaders.

Now he's knocked Liverpool out of the Carabao Cup. With Aston Villa, Real Madrid and Manchester City coming up, Slot clearly felt it was a risk worth taking. Time will be his judge.

The drama at Anfield as now become a crisis. Six defeats in seven games - including four in succession in the league - can be regarded as nothing less.

Yet Slot still opted to make 10 changes to the team that was outplayed in the loss at Brentford on Saturday.

There was a debut for third-choice keeper Freddie Woodman, the Croydon-born Palace fan whose dad Andy once played for the club and who has Gareth Southgate as a godfather. Teenage winger Kieran Morrison also got his first taste of senior action in a team that also included Calvin Ramsey, Trey Nyoni, Rio Ngumoha and two left-backs in Andy Robertson and Milos Kerkez.

Liverpool's manager then asked his makeshift team to play a three-man defensive formation, presumably in a bid to give Glasner something different to think about.

When Sarr then continued his one-man goalscoring crusade against Liverpool, Slot couldn't even come up with a solution from the bench.

Instead of taking out an insurance policy by keeping Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitike or Florian Wirtz warm in their tracksuits, the Dutchman gave them the evening off and came up with a list of substitutes that included five teenagers, a couple of 20-year-olds and two more 21-year-olds. It will be a great quiz question in a few years.

Liverpool's three-man defence employed Joe Gomez between midfielder Waturu Endo and Robertson. They didn't have much to do for most of the opening hald, but that only gave the home fans a false sense of hope.

Ngumoha, a spectacular match-winner at Newcastle back when Liverpool were churning out wins, illustrated he's doesn't lack confidence by cutting in at pace from the left to thrash a curling effort just wide.

Then Federico Chiesa burst between Jaydee Canvot and March Guehi but blazed his shot over before some more impressive work by Ngumoha ended with Chiesa sending an angled drive against the legs of Palace keeper Walter Benitez. That was their only effort on target.

Palace themselves had made five changes to the team beaten narrowly at the Emirates at the weekend.

The visitors' only shot in anger for the first 40 minutes saw Will Hughes send a crisp half-volley straight at Woodman, but it was clear that they were getting to grips with their task.

Sarr, a goalscorer against the Reds at both Wembley and Selhurst Park, then becalmed the Kop by rifling home a smart finish after Gomez had inadvertently bundled the ball into his path 18 yards out.

Five minutes later, the Senegalese forward was sent speeding clear by Yeremy Pino's pass and once again Woodman was left with no chance.

Sarr has scored five goals in five games against Liverpool. When he was at Watford, he helped himself to a hat-trick against the Reds' team managed by Jurgen Klopp.

He was denied the chance of another match-ball when he was substituted just after the hour, although Glasner's decision to bring on Jean-Philippe Mateta at half-time had indicated that the visitors felt more goals were there for the taking.

Mateta might have proved him right had Amara Nallo not dragged the Frenchman down to earn his second red card in only two appearances just 12 minutes after being sent on from the bench.

Pino did make it three two minutes from time when cut inside from the left to find the far corner before Derry native and Republic of Ireland youth international Trent Kone-Doherty made his competitive Anfield bow.

Liverpool (3-4-3): Woodman 5; Endo 6, Gomez 5, Robertson 5 (Lucky 67, 5); Ramsey 6, Nyoni 6, Mac Allister 5 (Nallo 67, 3), Kerkez 5; Morrison 5 (Gordon 67, 5), Chiesa 6, Ngumoha 6 (Kone-Doherty 86).

Crystal Palace (3-4-2-1): Benitez 7; Canvot 7, Lacroix 7, Guehi 7; Munoz 7 (Cardines 74, 6), Hughes 7 (Lerma 74, 6), Kamada7, Sosa 7 (Uche 83); Sarr 8; Pino 8; Nketiah 6 (Mateta 6).

Referee: Craig Pawson.