'I think': Frank Lebeouf says two Liverpool players should have never been picked by Arne Slot last night
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Liverpool have it all to do in the second leg as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the semifinal of the Carabao Cup.
Lucas Bergvall scored the solitary goal of the game in the 86th minute as his close-range finish went past the despairing dive of Alisson Becker after he latched onto a pass from Dominic Solanke.
The Reds weren’t at their best despite naming a strong lineup and have now drawn each of their last two games across all competitions.
And Frank Leboeuf feels Arne Slot actually made a big error in terms of his team selection against Tottenham.
Liverpool told they should have rested Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah
While Slot decided to rotate his full-backs and start Jarell Quansah in place of Ibrahima Konate, the rest of his XI was pretty much full-strength and not too different from the one that faced Manchester United.
The Dutchman probably wanted to take an advantage into the second leg at Anfield, but it wasn’t to be as Tottenham got a smash-and-grab winner late in the game.
Leboeuf feels Slot should have rested Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, who have started every Premier League and UEFA Champions League game for Liverpool so far.
"I think he should have rotated a little bit more,” said Leboeuf on ESPN UK’s YouTube channel.
“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."
Slot’s decision to name strong lineup makes sense
While it’s not hard to see the point Leboeuf is trying to make, Liverpool can afford to rest their players for the FA Cup clash against Accrington Stanley on Saturday.
After last night, most of the big guns are only expected to feature against Nottingham Forest, with the game scheduled to happen a week from now.
Read More:Conor Bradley gives honest assessment of his performance during Liverpool's loss against Tottenham
More so, with Joe Gomez injured and Konate only just returning to the team, resting Van Dijk wouldn’t have been the smartest decision, while Federico Chiesa’s fitness issues in recent months means it’s the same boat for Salah as well.
It’s a lot easier to make such claims in hindsight, but we can understand why the Slot opted to name a strong lineup to face Tottenham.
