Liverpool endured a travel nightmare as they tried to return to base after their 1-0 defeat by Tottenham on Wednesday night.
Arne Slot’s side suffered a rare defeat in their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg clash as a controversial Lucas Bergvall goal ensured victory for the hosts.
The Reds boss will have plenty to ponder after the match and it appears he’ll have plenty of time to do so after their travel back to Merseyside was disrupted by weather.
According to The Athletic, after the match, the squad’s flight back from London Stansted couldn’t land at John Lennon Airport due to icy fog and was forced to divert to Birmingham.
From there, they took a team bus back to Liverpool however didn’t arrive until the early hours and training was therefore cancelled.
The Reds will be looking to bounce back from the defeat when they return to action on Saturday afternoon as they host Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup .
Liverpool suffered a travel nightmare after their 1-0 defeat by Tottenham on Wednesday night
Arne Slot was forced to cancel Thursday’s training after arriving back in the early hours
Arne Slot’s side hadn’t suffered defeat since September prior to the Spurs loss and will be hoping to get back to winning ways in their upcoming ties.
Slot was left raging when Bergvall escaped a second yellow card to score Tottenham’s winner in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg.
Reds boss Slot was incensed on the touchline when Bergvall, already on a booking, scythed down Kostas Tsimikas in the build-up to the goal but escaped further punishment.
‘I don’t think there’s any debate about it,’ said Slot. ‘I think I saw Ange sitting here on Saturday and Spurs weren’t happy with a few decisions.
‘One went against them, tonight maybe one went in favour of them.
‘The decisions is made, you can’t change it. When he didn’t give the second yellow card, no one thought it would have such a big impact 30 seconds later.
‘I am 99.9 per cent certain I was not the only one who didn’t feel the best when it went in. It was, for him [the referee] also far from ideal.’
Before Bergvall’s contentious intervention, the two sides had played out a tight encounter at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and it looked set to end goalless after Dominic Solanke saw a goal ruled out for offside midway through the second half.
Yet, in the 86th minute Bergvall finished superbly following good work from the tireless Solanke to net his first goal for Spurs.
Lucas Bergvall scored a dramatic late winner for Tottenham as they beat Liverpool 1-0
Bergvall was fortunate to escape a second booking shortly before he scored the winner
Reds captain Virgil van Dijk also took his ire out on the officials post-match and claimed they must do better.
‘I think it was quite obvious it was going to be a second yellow (for Lucas Bergvall),’ he added.
‘I think it was pretty clear. It was a coincidence and a minute later he scores the winner.
‘It is what it is. He (the referee) made a mistake in my opinion and I told him that. He thinks he didn’t but it was quite obvious I think and everyone on the sidelines knew it was supposed to be a yellow.
‘There’s a linesman there, a fourth official there, there’s VAR, a referee and he doesn’t get a second yellow. I’m not saying this is the reason why we lost tonight but it was a big moment in the game.’
