LIVERPOOL, England -- As the heavens opened over Anfield, the TV cameras panned to the Liverpool dugout.

Behind head coach Arne Slot, his bench of substitutes -- Mohamed Salah , Alexander Isak , and Florian Wirtz -- sat side-by-side in the stands, bundled up against the cold. The trio have more than 500 career goals between them, but on Wednesday night, they were powerless to do anything but watch as Liverpool were beaten 3-0 by Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup .

Having made 10 changes from Saturday's 3-2 defeat at Brentford , Slot will have known such an outcome was highly likely. Liverpool's mounting injury list and punishing upcoming schedule mean the Dutchman was always going to be governed by a desire to protect his senior stars when deciding on his squad for this

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