Liverpool manager Arne Slot believes the course of events leading up to his side’s Premier League clash against Brighton and Hove Albion played a crucial role in their disappointing 2-1 defeat at The AMEX Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Reds went into the contest with plenty of confidence, coming off the back of a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Galatasaray that saw them overturn a one-goal deficit from the first leg and secure progression into the quarterfinals of this season’s UEFA Champions League.
However, they failed to ride that wave of form against Fabian Hurzeler’s Seagulls. Former Manchester United and Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck grabbed a brace either side of the half-time whistle to render Milos Kerkez’s 30th-minute strike insignificant and leave the reigning Premier League champions winless in three top-flight outings.
Reacting to the defeat after the full-time whistle, Liverpool lamented its apparent lack of good fortune over the course of the ongoing season.
The Dutch tactician pointed accusing fingers at Liverpool’s tight schedule of fixtures and unfortunate luck with injuries, insisting that a combination of these factors caused his team to falter.
“Brighton away, that’s a difficult game for any team, especially if you miss out on a few very influential players,” said Slot, per quotes revealed by This is Anfield.
“Of course, now, looking at the league table, this loss hurts a lot, and it should hurt us a lot.
“But the main problem we are in this position (is) because we dropped points at Wolves in the last minute with a deflected shot (and then) a week ago (against Tottenham) – not a week ago, because we had to play on Sunday, not on Saturday, and then on Wednesday and Saturday, not as all the other Champions League teams.
“The goal last week in the 90th minute is a bigger problem than losing away at Brighton. What went wrong started off with the lead-up to this game.
“As so many times has happened this season, when we played a very good game (a 4-0 second-leg win over Galatasaray) and we thought we could bring that level to the next game, or even better, we had Mo Salah injured, we had Alisson injured and, after two minutes, Hugo Ekitike out.
“That has happened to us so many times this season, and what has happened to us a lot this season is that the first chance of the other team immediately went in. But in the second half, Brighton were the better team and deserved to win.”
This latest slump means Liverpool have now failed to claim all three points in their last three Premier League outings with defeats to relegation candidates Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brighton sandwiching an Anfield draw against Tottenham Hotspur.
As things stand, Liverpool maintain 5th place in the Premier League standings but risk dropping down to 6th if nearest rivals Chelsea can manage to claim three points against Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday night.
Whatever the case, the defeat to Brighton sets Arne Slot’s Reds back in their pursuit of a top-four finish that would guarantee Champions League football at Anfield ahead of next season.
