For the second time in a row, **Liverpool**walk away from Wembley Stadium empty-handed.
The team lost 3-2 on penalties to Crystal Palace after a 2-2 draw in 90 minutes that might have gone the way of the Eagles with the momentum of the final phase.
However, Arne Slot is still calm about the situation with his squad and does not think there were any "main issues" that should concern him.
‘We concede goals at the moment’
The display started brightly with a goal for **Hugo Ekitiké**in less than four minutes. The second scorer for the Reds was also one of the summer signings, and both earned praise for an immediate impact.
“It’s always nice to score – not only for him, also for Jeremie Frimpong. It would have been nicer to win a game of football because I think that’s more important than scoring. He had a good impact.”
The Frenchman did not finish the match on the field. With only days to go until the first matchday of the Premier League campaign against Bournemouth, the manager felt that he had to rest the striker.
*“If he gets an injury at this moment of time, that would be a big risk for the Bournemouth, Newcastle United and Arsenal games. That is why I had taken him off, but he had a good gam. That is for sure.”*
Jean-Philippe Mateta had broken clean through in the first quarter of an hour in the buildup to a penalty that he converted. Around the hour mark, the Eagles regained momentum and their pressure built as Ismaila Sarr, who had earned that spot kick for the striker, slotted a second equaliser himself.
However, **Liverpool**still had most of the ball, and Slot did not see a major flaw in the performance.
“I don’t think there was a main issue unless if the other team misses two penalties and you still lose within five penalties, that of course doesn’t help. But I think in general, it was a game where we twice came one goal up and, in my opinion, we controlled the game until the moment they scored the 2-2.”
The Dutchman detailed that he had gone into the game with the expectation that Palace would sit in a low block. The Eagles are an experienced unit under the tactical demands of Oliver Glasner and did not give up a lot of chances, but it took time for the walls to break down at the other end of the field.
“In general, there were not many chances because they went to a low block. We had a lot of ball possession. But after the 2-2, they had chances, so it needs maybe a little bit of an adjustment at the moment defensively because we don’t concede a lot of chances, but we concede goals at the moment.”
In the end, a shootout would decide the duel. **Mo Salah**skied his strike, then Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott saw Dean Henderson parry their efforts from twelve yards. The boss broke down how he tried to prepare the players for penalties despite the misses that happened on the afternoon.
“It was just making sure that everybody was calm and not distracted, to take their penalty. It was quite clear which five were going to take it, so then it was only the following order we had to decide, and that’s what we did. Then, it’s for the players to get focus for the penalties. That’s what they did.”
‘Everybody wants to win desperately against you’
Slot spoke some more about what this result means for the big picture of the red half of Merseyside.
He held his hands up to salute the strengths of Crystal Palace. They were able to stretch the game when they had the ball with the wing-backs and have an excellent figure in Mateta to lead the line.
“We conceded two against a team that has made it difficult for everyone last season and I expect them to this season again. A lot of balls passed into our last line and a lot of crosses. For me, I felt we did not give away that many chances until they scored the 2-2 and then they were threatening us more.”
Even if the Eagles ended up in the bottom half of the table, they are a team with top talent from back to front. Marc Guehi, Adam Wharton, and Eberechi Eze are three coveted homegrown assets from the club that picked up the seventh most points in the final six months of the **Premier League**season.
“This was the number 12 of last season – a very good team, who especially in the end they did so well that they maybe are better than the position they ended up in. But if these are the number 12 that can make it such a hard time for you, you know what you are going to have to expect if you play here.”
Last year, Slot sat in the dugout as the new replacement for Jurgen Klopp, and few would have thought the Reds would walk away with the **Premier League**crown. Now, with over £260 million spent on incomings, they have become a target everyone wants to beat that much more than before.
“And the ones that played here for a longer time know if you won the league, if you wear a Liverpool shirt, everybody wants to win desperately against you and we have to be much more ready for that.”
There are some notable trends. **Liverpool**have brought in Florian Wirtz on top of Ekitiké and have been more pleasing on the eye in possession for the boss. On the other hand, they are working with two new fullbacks, no Luis Diaz or Diogo Jota, and without a marquee addition at the base of the midfield. The balance between stability and offensive threat is still something of a work in progress.
*“In whole pre-season we saw we are able to create more and we are more comfortable on the ball, we create more opportunities, chances, we dominate even more. Last season we had a lot of possession but that didn’t always lead to promising situations. But the other side is also true: we conceded four against Milan, one against Yokohama Marinos, two against Athletic Club and again two today.”*
Even in their last three meetings with Glasner’s men, this pattern has translated over to the results.
“Last season, we only won mostly by a margin of one goal and that had mostly to do with us keeping a clean sheet or as a maximum conceding one goal. We scored twice against Palace, last season we were not able to do that once: we beat them 1-0 and had a 1-1 draw at Anfield. That’s the positive.”