Slot fumes as Liverpool equal worst-ever Prem run

LONDON — Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has admitted his team’s 3-2 defeat to Brentford is one of the most disappointing results of his tenure.

The champions suffered their fourth consecutive league defeat at the Gtech Community Stadium and have now dropped to sixth in the Premier League table. It is the club’s worst run of domestic form since February 2021, with Liverpool already having lost as many games this term as they did in the entirety of last season.

“I think it’s up there in my time here in terms of losing a game of football,” Slot said when asked whether the result is one of his most disappointing as Liverpool boss. “After 30 minutes, I think [Brentford] took the game again with long throw-is and set pieces and other moments where they were just really good.”

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Liverpool are just the fourth defending champions to lose four straight games and it equals the club’s longest run of defeats in the Premier League era. After previously being beaten by Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Manchester United, Slot said that Saturday’s loss was the worst of the quartet.

“You cannot compare all of them, what’s the most concerning thing is you lose four times in a row,” he added to TNT Sports. “So it’s always about the result. Afterwards you can judge the performance, which today, in my opinion, is the worst from all the four losses we’ve had.

“I think we didn’t do the basics right, especially the first half and during parts of the second half as well. I think they won more duels than us, they won more second balls than us.”

Brentford led 2-0 after goals from Dango Ouattara and Kevin Schade. Milos Kerkez then got Liverpool back into the game in first-half stoppage time.

Igor Thiago’s penalty in the second half put Brentford back in control until Mohamed Salah lashed a brilliant shot into the top corner in the 89th. With 11 minutes of added time, the Merseyside club ramped up the pressure in search of an equaliser, but couldn’t find a way through.

Defeat means Liverpool could now end the weekend seven points behind leaders Arsenal.

While disappointed with his side’s performance, Slot was also unhappy with two key refereeing decisions.

Brentford’s second goal arrived just moments after Cody Gakpo had a pretty strong case for a penalty turned down following a challenge from Nathan Collins.

The home side were then awarded a controversial penalty in the second half when VAR adjudged Virgil van Dijk to have fouled Ouattara inside the box, with Thiago converting the spot-kick.

“Just before they scored to make it 2-0, there was a moment where Cody dribbled inside the box and they didn’t play the ball,” Slot said. “I think if you would show both situations — the penalty we conceded and that moment — and you showed this to every referee in the world, he would tell you maybe both or nothing.

“But if I have to give one of the two, I definitely would give the one to Cody. But yeah, bad luck for us.

“Was that the referee? I don’t think he was intending to give a penalty for that, but he thought: ‘Oh, let’s give him a free kick.’ But then the VAR says it’s inside. So then if you think it’s a free kick then it’s a penalty so that bad luck maybe comes if you play a game like football like we did today.”

Information from PA and The Associated Press was used in this report.