Ian Doyle with the main talking point from Liverpool's Premier League clash at Bournemouth on Saturday evening
Arne Slot saw his side lose in the dying moments
Arne Slot saw his side lose in the dying moments(Image: Getty Images)
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Not even the fabled set-piece balance could save Liverpool here. So continues the maddening way in which the Reds are frittering away any chance of making ground in the Premier League.
Certainly, while prospering in the Champions League, Arne Slot's side are doing themselves few favours in their attempts to ensure participation in the competition next season through domestic means.
Now the Liverpool boss will once again find himself under pressure after a 13-game unbeaten run was ended in painful, dramatic and utterly avoidable fashion.
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This defeat will have negated any positivity that came from the manner in which the Reds fought back from two goals behind to level having effectively gifted Bournemouth their quickfire first-half double, and that both Liverpool strikes came from dead-ball situations to address a shortcoming long highlighted by Slot.
The first goal was particularly notable with Virgil van Dijk glancing in Dominik Szoboszlai’s corner to give the visitors hope just before the interval. It was the first time the Reds had converted such an opening in the Premier League this campaign.
The equaliser was a second example inside a week of creative play from a dangerous free-kick, Szoboszlai this time curling around the wall from 25 yards after the ball was rolled into his path from Mohamed Salah.
It must be said no team has conceded more times from set-pieces in the top flight than Bournemouth this season. Next on that list of shame? Liverpool.
And clearly old habits die hard. When Bournemouth forced a brace of long-throw opportunities in the final seconds of the game, the Achilles heel of being unable to defend set-pieces that debilitated Liverpool during the opening months returned in untimely fashion.
While some might point to the fortune that allowed a succession of ricochets to eventually fall into the path of Amine Adli, others would scrutinise the lack of decisiveness in the Reds wanting to deal with the danger.
It was the fifth time Liverpool had conceded after the 90th minute in the Premier League this season, all of which have resulted in dropped points.
And the fact is the Reds have now taken only four from their five league games this calendar year. That’s simply not good enough.
After four successive top-flight stalemates, it’s not quite back to the drawing board for Slot. But the problems that have hampered his team all season clearly aren’t going to disappear quietly.