Crisis Slot: Liverpool Suffers Defeat to Chelsea and Concern for Konaté

Liverpool manager Arne Slot expressed his belief that “small details” cost his team the defeat against Chelsea, although he acknowledged the need to improve decision-making. The match, played at Stamford Bridge, saw Estêvão score the winning goal for the home side in the 95th minute, following previous goals by Moisés Caicedo and Cody Gakpo. This defeat marks the first time in Slot’s management that Liverpool has lost three consecutive matches, after falling to Crystal Palace and Galatasaray. Slot commented: “We also lost against Chelsea last season. Stamford Bridge is always difficult. We were very close to a result. Small details. As I said in the match against Galatasaray, we had a one-on-one and then they scored a penalty. We conceded in added time against Palace. And today, they scored a goal that could have gone either way.” “After drawing 1-1, the game went our way and I think I expected us to score the second. The decision-making could have been better, the last 10-15 minutes were back and forth. We got into the opponent’s area with Andy Robertson, we couldn’t control the ball, but again, it’s small details, as it has been since I’ve been here.” “Last week, like this week, two difficult away games, the small details haven’t gone our way.”

After conceding in the 97th minute against Palace, Liverpool becomes the fifth team in Premier League history to lose multiple matches due to goals scored in the 90th minute or later within a span of seven days. Liverpool, which drops to second place in the Premier League table, also faces concern over the physical condition of defender Ibrahima Konaté, who was substituted in the second half. Slot added: “I don’t know if it’s a serious injury, but what I do know is that he was limping a bit and when I asked him, he said he felt his quadriceps a little.” “So, for me, all the alarms go off because in another sprint you never know if that’s going to go well.” “It was also a substitution I had in mind, perhaps for a few minutes or a little later, because the right center-back had a lot of possession of the ball and we needed to create from that position. We all know that Ryan Gravenberch is quite good at that.” “It may be okay that he left early enough, but it was clear that he had to take him out because he was limping.”