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Liverpool fell to a 3-2 loss against Man United in the Premier League.
Arne Slot rued Liverpool’s errors as they gave themselves a mountain to climb in their loss to Manchester United.
The home side raced into a two-goal advantage within 14 minutes, with Matheus Cunha opening the scoring before Benjamin Sesko doubling the advantage. While goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo got Liverpool back into the showdown after the interval, Kobbie Mainoo’s 77th-minute strike ensured United achieved a double over the Anfield outfit for the first time in a decade.
Liverpool have suffered 11 Premier League defeats as defending champions - and been beaten 18 times in all competitions. And Slot knows the start that his team made to the game was their downfall.
The Anfield head coach said: “That it wasn’t necessary to be 2-0 down and it wasn’t necessary to lose this game today. Although, United deserved to be 2-0 up – let that be completely clear. We conceded two goals and they had a lot of strengths, let that also be clear, but two of them are set-pieces and the counter-attack and we fell into that trap with both goals. The first one we concede [from] a set-piece and the second one we played through the middle where their players are sharp in the duels and a quick counter-attack led to the 2-0.
“I did see us in the first half coming into good positions but that did not lead to anything. Well, a few shots but nothing serious, and I said if we can combine coming into these positions with a bit more intent in arriving in the box – that’s why I changed and put Cody in a No.9 position – then we are able to do more than only having ball possession, and that’s what happened in the second half. Also, of course, because we immediately found the goal because they misplaced the pass. Great finish by Dominik, but they misplace the pass. Then you have your momentum on your side and that is what we had in the second half, I think.
“We lost a lot, that is true. You know when you come here they want to start strong and aggressive and we were aware of that. When did we concede the first goal? Six minutes? So, indeed, in this first six minutes I saw us not picking up the second balls, although we had a few moments where we pressed them high. But if you concede after six minutes in this stadium then you always know you’re going to face a struggle period afterwards.
“I think after us conceding the goal we controlled ball possession, controlled the game by ball possession, but then I think it was one of the first times after we lost the ball and they counter-attacked us to 2-0. Then, of course, everything you’ve done before deserves a lot of criticism, but I don’t think there were that many differences between the first and the second half. The only difference there was that we were better able to control their counter-attacks and creating more from the ball possession we had.”
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