Yeah Liverpool had a good start with the season but like they say, "it's not the beginning that really matters but the end that does", and this is just where Liverpool are about to find themselves in this race if they don't get back to winning ways quickly they might have a bad end of a season after a long winning run in the start. Probably could be fatigue that's starting to affect some of the players thereby making their performance underwhelming or something else I don't know but that's Arne Slot job to figure out. Making sure Liverpool win the second leg when they meet Newcastle in the EPL as it's going to be epic seeing Tottenham Hotspur in the EPL final and winning the trophy at last.
Liverpool's defeat on the EFL stage certainly did not surprise many because sometimes the EFL Cup is not a priority for some teams because there are other things that may be more important. I see Liverpool preferring to focus on the Premier League competition because they are currently several points ahead of their competitors. However, even so, Arne Slot must also seriously review the statistics in his last two matches because if there is a problem that may not be fixed immediately, it will greatly affect the next match.