Crystal Palace appear to have cheekily taunted Liverpool by sharing a grinning image of Marc Guehi ahead of their Carabao Cup clash at Anfield this week. Liverpool’s recent form has been shaky at best, losing five of their last six matches across all competitions, with one of those losses being to Palace just a month ago. The south Londoners also triumphed over the Reds in the Community Shield in August, securing victory through a penalty shoot-out.
They later frustrated Liverpool in the transfer market by pulling out of a deal for Guehi to move to Anfield on deadline day. It’s safe to say that Palace have been a persistent nuisance for Liverpool recently, and they have another chance to upset the Reds on Wednesday.
Ahead of the match, Palace posted on X (formerly Twitter): “Taking on Liverpool, again. This time in the Carabao Cup.” Accompanying the message was a photo of a beaming Guehi.
The selection of this particular image felt very deliberate given the summer’s events involving Guehi, Liverpool, and Palace.
In other news, it has been confirmed that Arne Slot will not be addressing the media on Tuesday before the match against Crystal Palace.
While managers and head coaches are contractually required to hold pre-match press conferences before Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League games, this obligation does not extend to Carabao Cup matches.
As such, Liverpool have chosen not to schedule one for Tuesday, mirroring their approach for the previous round against Southampton.
On that occasion, Liverpool had also dispatched a delegation to Paris for the Ballon d’Or ceremony that evening, which included Slot and his coaching team.
It’s not unusual for clubs to skip Carabao Cup press conferences. Liverpool’s city rivals Everton, Manchester United and Manchester City typically don’t bother.
In the past, Jurgen Klopp often delegated his assistant Pepijn Lijnders to field questions from journalists.
Slot, however, held a pre-match press conference before all six Carabao Cup matches last season. The Reds beat West Ham , Brighton, Southampton, and Tottenham Hotspur on their way to the final, where they were ultimately beaten by Newcastle.
