Liverpool head coach Arne Slot admitted that his side could have been 4-0 down at half time against Crystal Palace.
The Reds’ 100 per cent start to the season came to an end at Selhurst Park with a 2-1 defeat to the Eagles.
3
Eddie Nketiah scored in the final seconds to ensure Oliver Glasner’s men stretchered their unbeaten run to 18 matches in all competitions.
In truth, it could have been much easier for the hosts as well.
They opened the scoring through Ismailia Sarr in the first half and saw numerous chances come and go, with Reds goalkeeper Alisson pulling off several sublime saves.
The second half was a very different story, and the Reds piled the pressure on in search of an equaliser with Federico Chiesa coming off the bench to pull Liverpool level.
It was a somewhat controversial equaliser as the ball appeared to hit Mohamed Salah’s hand in the build-up, but a VAR check couldn’t find conclusive evidence of the handball, meaning the goal stood.
If any side were going to win it, it looked to be the Reds, but they failed to deal with the ball being put back into the box after clearing a long throw, and Nketiah finished brilliantly.
And after the game, Slot admitted his side hadn’t been good enough defensively.
He said: “We could have been three or 4-0 down at half time. The only reason we didn’t was because Alisson made a few very good saves. Maybe one would have been disallowed because there was a shirt pull. That doesn’t really help because it builds the momentum for them.
“In the end, we gave away far too many chances in the first half.
“Second half, we created more chances than most teams do against Palace because you hardly see chances for either side because they work so hard.
“But we created more than enough to score earlier. In the end, we did score, and we lose it because we concede the second set-piece goal of the day.”
3
Liverpool’s defence
Despite five wins from five Premier League games before this defeat, Liverpool had looked shaky defensively.
They had kept two clean sheets, but conceded twice against Bournemouth and ten-man Newcastle United before letting one in in the Merseyside derby last weekend.
Two more goals went into the back of the net during their latest outing, and that is four from set-pieces in the Premier League, which Slot thinks is possibly because more teams are trying to exploit set-pieces.
To talkSPORT’s Alex Crook, Slot revealed he’s not too worried about the defence despite the Reds conceding a number of goals already this season.
He said: “In two situations, we’ve conceded two set-pieces. But the game of football in England has changed to a set-piece game.
“I was watching Brentford against Man United, and every ball that goes out is leading to a long throw.
“So, you have to defend a lot of set-pieces. If you concede two that is too much.
“But they could have scored from open play as well because they had enough chances.”
3
How did Isak do?
Liverpool’s new £125million man Alexander Isak got his first Premier League start for the Reds following his deadline day move from Newcastle United.
He probably wouldn’t have started had Hugo Ekitike not been suspended, but the striker was sent off in midweek for two bookable offences, including the second one for taking his shirt off after scoring the winner.
It was a decision that left his manager fuming and meant Isak had to start.
This likely wouldn’t be a problem if he’d had a full pre-season or featured in the Premier League before leaving St James’ Park, but he refused to play for the Toon instead.
He was thus well short on match fitness, and though he managed to play the majority of the game, he wasn’t that involved, his match highlight seeing him miss one good chance in the second half.
However, Slot is pleased to see some progress from his new striker.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Slot indicated the forward is getting fitter, saying: “I was happy that he could have so many minutes. That was also to do with the low intensity of the game.
“There wasn’t a lot of running to do for our players, so that is why he could play a bit longer, but he’s getting there.
“There were a few times where he got close to the goal, and he’s getting fitter and fitter.”