Arne Slot pinpointed the critical error that led to Liverpool's defeat

Liverpool’s unbeaten run was broken by a harsh 1-2 defeat against Crystal Palace, leaving manager Arne Slot extremely disappointed with how the team defended set pieces.

Arne Slot’s team traveled to Selhurst Park with caution, knowing Crystal Palace is very dangerous from set plays. However, Liverpool still couldn’t avoid fatal mistakes. The 4-2-2-2 formation Slot initially chose proved unbalanced, forcing him to switch to 4-2-3-1 in the first half after falling behind. Yet nothing changed, as set pieces remained the “Achilles’ heel” for The Kops.

Ismaila Sarr scored the opener for Palace with a finish following a corner from Daicha Kamada. In stoppage time, the nightmare repeated when Eddie Nketiah capitalized on a long throw from Chris Richards to seal a 2-1 victory for the hosts. This goal infuriated Slot, especially as Milos Kerkez’s weak clearance caused Liverpool’s entire defense to collapse.

Slot voiced his frustration on Sky Sports when discussing the defeat: "If you want to compete, you must defend set pieces very solidly, even more so in this league."

He admitted that Liverpool lost a strength they had last season: "That used to be our strong point, but now we have conceded two goals against Newcastle and another two here. This league increasingly revolves around set-piece situations."

Regarding the stoppage-time goal, Slot remained calm but clearly disappointed: "Conceding in stoppage time is never ideal, but with substitutions, the extra half minute is reasonable. I need to review exactly when they scored, but clearly, we must defend throw-ins better. Every match teaches us lessons, and this one offers many to learn from."

In fact, this defeat was somewhat predictable since Liverpool had escaped danger by luck multiple times in earlier rounds. Losing from a simple throw-in shows Slot’s lineup lacked focus during crucial moments.

The responsibility to improve lies with coach Aaron Briggs, who oversees set-piece defensive drills. With tall players like Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, and Alexander Isak, conceding goals from aerial balls and long throws is clearly unacceptable.

Instead of complaining about stoppage time, the key question Slot should ask is why Nketiah was left completely unmarked in the decisive moment. This will be a costly lesson in game management for Liverpool if they want to successfully defend their Premier League title this season.

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