Isak and Wirtz missed chances — Arne Slot explains Liverpool's defeat to Eagles

Liverpool boss Arne Slots disagreed that his team struggled to create chances against Crystal Palace, noting the missed opportunities which fell to the likes of Jeremie Frimpong, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz. 

The Reds were handed their first defeat of the Premier League campaign by Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon—a 2-1 loss, which effectively ended their 100% start to the season. 

Slot praised the opposition and admitted to their struggles in the first half, in which Crystal Palace won 1-0, but refused to agree that they had difficulties creating chances. 

Speaking after the game, the Dutch tactician praised Oliver Glasner’s side, even admitting that their blushes were spared a bit in the first half. 

“Very difficult first half for us. They did really well,” he said, per NBCSports. “Deserved to be 1-0 up. I think we were even lucky it was only 1-0. Second half performance was maybe a bit the opposite. 

“I think we had enough chances to score; it took a while before we scored one, and when we scored one, there was only a few minutes left. You think it’s going to be a draw, but from their second set piece, they won the game.”

The journalist questioned whether they really created chances as Slot said, and he spelt out specific situations in which they should have scored. 

“No, the second half we did have them,” he insisted. “Alex [Isak] had a very good chance. He did everything to stay on his feet. 

“The same Jeremie Frimpong did in the second half once, when he got tripped inside the 18-yard box, and he tried to do everything to stay on his feet and of course Florian Wirtz had a big chance from the cross from Dominik Szoboszlai. I think second half our performance was better, which wasn’t that difficult compared to the first half.”