1 week ago
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Liverpool’s dreadful run of recent results hit a new low on Saturday with a dismal 3-2 loss at Brentford, which extended the Reds’ sequence of defeats to four in the Premier League.
That’s as many games as Arne Slot’s side lost in the whole of last season, while it has also been defeated in five out of its last six in all competitions. On Saturday, Liverpool was simply unable to deal with Brentford’s proficiency from set-pieces and on the break, with goals from Dango Ouattara, Kevin Schade, and Igor Thiago securing all three points for the hosts.
Liverpool did net late in both halves via Milos Kerkez and Mohamed Salah, but the Bees were good value for the win.
Slot admitted this was probably the worst performance of his Liverpool tenure, and it is the first time the Reds have lost four in a row since February 2021.
The stats don’t make for good reading. One in particular stood out, underlining Liverpool’s deficiencies and inability to correct errors from previous games. The Reds have conceded in the opening 15 minutes of their last four league matches.
The last time that happened was 1996, before much of the current squad were even born.
Evidently, the unwanted penchant means Liverpool has to work even harder to get back into games, which it did in defeats against Crystal Palace, Chelsea, and Manchester United before conceding a late winner.
On Saturday, there was no such fightback, although goals from Kerkez and Salah did provide Liverpool with some hope.
Virgil van Dijk was asked post-match if he knows why Liverpool has conceded so many early goals, and replied: “No, because otherwise we stop it immediately. The fact is that we concede goals, and we want to turn that around as soon as possible as well.
“I think we gave maybe 10 throw-ins away in the first 20 minutes. And if that's the strength of the opponent, then obviously you're asking for trouble.
“So, yeah, it's disappointing, but more disappointing that obviously we can't keep a clean sheet at the moment.
“You know, something that I'm obviously also part of, like the rest of the team. It's not only one player or the back line, it's everyone that's responsible for that, and we have to improve in order to get back to winning ways in the league.”
Liverpool has kept just two clean sheets in its last 19 games, stretching back to last season, and has allowed the opposition to score multiple goals in each of the last four league matches.
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