Virgil van Dijk became a striker on the halfway line, for once obscured by another “colossus”. In his absence, Liverpool’s defence was held together by Dominik Szoboszlai, Jarell Quansah and Andy Robertson. Mohamed Salah stood on the periphery. For the second time in six days, he watched on, barely having a kick, as Liverpool suffered a painful defeat. On the touchline, Arne Slot found that he had Federico Chiesa at his disposal. The lesser-spotted Italian not only saw the Wembley pitch but scored Liverpool’s consolation in the Carabao Cup final. On the whole, it rather summed up an afternoon where barely anything went to plan for them.
For the second time in a week, Liverpool were beaten. Unlike the Champions League exit to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, this did not come down to the fine margins of a penalty shoot-out. “Disappointing result, disappointing performance,” Slot said. “Completely different to how I felt after PSG.”
