Liverpool head coach Arne Slot said there is no new pressure despite his team managing a solitary win in their last seven games. The Reds suffered a 3-0 loss against Crystal Palace in the fourth round of the EFL Cup on Thursday.

After winning the first five matches of the Premier League, the defending champions have lost their last four games on the bounce. Slot made 10 changes to the playing XI against Crystal Palace and rested a number of senior players.

“It’s always a blow to lose a game of football, especially if it leads to going out of a competition,” Slot said. “But it’s the same selection I did tonight as I did last season in rounds like this.

“There are many reasons maybe why we’ve lost six out of seven. None of them are good enough to accept losing so many. So I can come up with arguments or reasons, but none of them will be enough. Because at Liverpool, losing five or six, six or seven is always too much.”

He added: “If you’re on a run of results like this, if you play for Liverpool, if you manage Liverpool, you know the pressure is there. And I don’t think it has changed much after this loss, but if it did, then the most positive thing about tonight was that the position we were in at 2-0 down and we weren’t really pushing for a goal. The fans were behind the team, were supporting us and that gives me the feeling that Saturday when our players will show how much it means to them, our fans will be incredibly supportive.”

Slot revealed that Ryan Gravenberch has a good chance of playing the next Premier League clash against Aston Villa as he has retained full fitness.

“I think Ryan has a good chance,” Slot said. “The other ones, let’s wait and see tomorrow and Friday. I don’t know all of them, but I think Ryan has the best chance from all of [the injured players].”

Liverpool will host Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday.