Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has strongly rejected suggestions Arne Slot's team "bottled" the Carabao Cup final after fellow pundit Martin Keown took aim at the Reds. The 2-1 loss to Newcastle came just days after Liverpool were knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain, leaving the Premier League as their only potential silverware. After topping the league phase in the Champions League and cruising into the Carabao Cup final, Slot had his sights on multiple trophies. It wasn't to be, though, with goals from Dan Burn and Alexander Isak stopping them in their tracks at Wembley. Keown's former club Arsenal remain Liverpool's closest challengers in the league. They have 12 points to make up across nine matches, though - a tall order even if the Gunners were at full strength, which they are not. Arsenal have been accused of bottling trophy runs in the past, not least the 2022-23 title race . Mikel Arteta's side were five points clear with nine games to go in the 2022-23 season, but finished five points behind eventual champions Manchester City . “If this was Arsenal, losing two major games, you’d say they bottled it," Keown told talkSPORT when discussing Liverpool's successive cup defeats. “They’ve just gone out of the Champions League and lost a cup final.” Murphy was having none of it, though. “It’s a ridiculous comparison, I don’t even know where Martin was going with it," he said. "How can you compare? Liverpool have been in the league cup final three out of the last four years. Won it last year. “There’s no bottling going on to lose a cup final or a cup competition. Even in the Champions League, they drew over 180 minutes and lost on penalties.” Liverpool will resume their Premier League campaign against Everton on April 2 as they look to get over the line. Six of their other eight games are against London sides, including a May 10 meeting with Arsenal at Anfield. "Like I said from the start, it took us seven, eight [or] nine months to lose twice in a row and that happens against two teams; one of them is fighting for Champions League, Newcastle is a very good team [and] we knew this already at St. James’ Park, and the other one is Paris Saint-Germain," Slot said after the Wembley reverse. "Probably if you can beat us in that style of play you are probably the best in Europe at the moment. "They still have to show if they still can do this in the upcoming two or three months. But I want to make clear one more time that the week started off really well by us beating Southampton . "That’s why we extended our lead to 12 points [in the Premier League] with nine games to go. You know if you go far in tournaments that the opposition you face gets stronger and stronger. Even Liverpool can lose football games, that’s what can happen." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.