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Arne Slot has told Liverpool it needs to improve defensively before the start of the new Premier League season after losing out on the Community Shield.
The Reds were beaten 3-2 on penalties in the season opener against Crystal Palace at Wembley, having been held to a 2-2 draw during normal time. Goals from Hugo Ekitike and Jeremie Frimpong ultimately proved not to be enough, with Mohamed Salah, Alexis Mac Allister, and Harvey Elliott all going on to miss in the shootout.
Although there were plenty of encouraging signs going forward, particularly from the club’s new signings, there were some concerns at the back - and not for the first time this summer.
Liverpool made something of a worrying habit of conceding during pre-season, having let in four against AC Milan, one against Yokohama, and two in the second game against Athletic Club, which saw Slot name something close to his strongest team.
And having let the first piece of silverware this season slip through their hands, Slot was somewhat blunt in his assessment after the defeat to Palace.
“Disappointing,” Slot told TNT Sports. “If you’re twice a goal up, and you’re still not able to win the game, that’s disappointing.
“A game that was quite even I think. There were moments in the game where I thought we could’ve won it, but in the end, they came close to making the winner as well, so like I said, an even game, and then it goes to penalties, which they did better than us.”
“Asked what went wrong for his side after leading 2-1 at half-time, Slot responded. “It’s a bit of everything of course.
"First 15, 20 minutes, I think we got our chances to make the third one. We didn’t score that one, then I think not a lot of things happened until the moment they scored for 2-2.
"They were a few times close to scoring the third goal, though in the counter-attack, we were close with Mo Salah as well, but like I said, we could’ve maybe scored the third one in the first 15-20 minutes after half-time.
"We didn’t, we kept them alive, and they scored a very good goal, and came close to scoring the winner at the end as well."
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Liverpool will have to shake off the disappointment of another Wembley defeat quickly as it prepares for Friday’s Premier League opener against Bournemouth, with Slot left with work to do with his side over the coming days.
“It’s a bit mixed feelings,” Slot said. “If you look at our attacking play against a team that is so compact, that might be a bit better than last season, and I think we created more chances last season, we only could score one goal against Palace, now we score two.
“But, on the other hand, we again conceded two goals, which we did against Bilbao, and we conceded a couple more against Milan, so that is something we need to do better.”
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