Arne Slot admits he is a “bit surprised” to hear praise for Liverpool’s performance in their 0-0 draw with Arsenal, comparing it to the draws with Leeds and Fulham.
Arne Slot has admitted he is “a bit surprised” by the praise after Liverpool’s 0-0 draw with Arsenal, insisting the Reds still “struggle” in the final third.
Despite stretching their unbeaten run to 10 games, Liverpool failed to record a shot on target in the league for the first time in 16 years since a 1-0 loss to Wigan (Mar 2010).
“We did really well in ball possession,” Slot said, “but for me it was not that much different than playing Leeds at home or Fulham away.”
Liverpool extended their unbeaten run to 10 games with a stalemate at Arsenal on Thursday night, but in doing so made it three draws in a row and ended a 16-year streak.
The Reds failed to record a single shot on target for the first time in 600 Premier League games since a 1-0 defeat to Wigan under Rafa Benitez in March 2010.
Despite this, Liverpool have been widely praised for limiting Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal and securing a draw, with their second-half display particularly impressive.
But with one reporter describing it as a “good performance” in his post-match press conference, Slot conceded he was “a bit surprised.”
“Yeah I’m a bit surprised that people think this a good performance,” he explained.
“Because when we have 60 or 70 percent ball possession against other teams people find it boring – and now it’s a ‘good performance’.
“But again we hardly created a chance and now we say ‘phwoar, what a performance!’.
“This is who we are: we can dominate ball possession, we know how to do buildup, but we struggle obviously in a few things. Set-pieces is one of them.
“
“For me it was not that much different than playing Leeds at home or Fulham away where we dominated ball possession as well.
“But then people are annoyed by the fact these teams are not of the magnitude of Arsenal, then it’s ‘not good enough’ – which I completely agree on, by the way.”
Arne Slot
“Dominating moments when we are in the final third, to find the right parts, the right execution, that is something that’s still not at the level some other teams are.
“That’s why we are working every single day.
“Yes we did really well in ball possession, but for me it was not that much different than playing Leeds at home or Fulham away where we dominated ball possession as well.
“But then people are annoyed by the fact these teams are not of the magnitude of Arsenal, then it’s ‘not good enough’ – which I completely agree on, by the way, because I want to see us creating more chances as well.”
LONDON, ENGLAND - Thursday, January 8, 2026: Liverpool's head coach Arne Slot during the FA Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Liverpool FC at the Emirates Stadium. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
With growing concerns over Slot’s approach in recent months this is perhaps the show of mentality required from the Liverpool head coach.
Throughout the first half against Arsenal there were obvious issues with how the Reds set up, with the 11 players on the pitch clearly good enough – at least on paper – to attack the Premier League leaders and look for the win.
But the manner in which they controlled the second half, with 65 percent possession and no shots from their opponents until stoppage time, was hugely encouraging.
That Slot has acknowledged that Liverpool still need to improve further is even more encouraging – and the hope is that this draw against a side carrying momentum can be a platform to build from now on.