Arne Slot accepted that Liverpool have dropped too many points in the Premier League after playing in the Champions League as they suffered another blow to their hopes of finishing in the top-five with defeat at Brighton.
Danny Welbeck’s double earned Brighton a deserved victory over Slot’s side, who became the first reigning Premier League champions to lose 10 games in a season since Chelsea in 2017-18.
The Reds have lost five games of their 10 games immediately after playing in Europe this season, winning four and drawing one, as they failed to back up Wednesday’s big win over Galatasaray to reach the quarter-finals.
Already without Mohamed Salah and goalkeeper Alisson to injuries, Liverpool lost Hugo Ekitike to a dead leg following a heavy collision with James Milner in the opening five minutes and they were outworked by an energetic Brighton team who were fully deserving of their fourth win in five games.
“It is clear that we have lost a lot of points after playing in Europe,” Slot told TNT Sports. “I have tried to explain a lot of times already why this is but today we also have to give credit to Brighton. In the second half, they were the better team on the pitch.
“What I thought [before the game], is you won’t need 24 points to qualify [from the final eight games of the season] and hopefully I am right because we aren’t able to get 24 points anymore.
“We kept trying. In the second half we were close but they were closer to score the third one than we were the second one. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough after a week like this.”
Slot said losing Ekitike so early in the game was a “big blow” and Liverpool will be desperate to get as many players as possible back fit after the international break for the FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City, which will be followed by the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain.
But Liverpool also risk slipping from the Premier League’s top-five after a run of three games without a win. While the impressive nature of Liverpool’s win over Galatasaray had lifted the mood following the defeat at bottom-club Wolves and 1-1 draw with struggling Tottenham, there is pressure on Slot again ahead of a crucial stretch of the season.
“There is always pressure at Liverpool, on me, on the players,” Slot said. “That is completely normal. We have qualified for the quarter finals of the FA Cup and the Champions League but in the league we need to make sure that in the end we qualify for the Champions League.
“As much as I dislike us losing here today, Brighton away has always been a difficult one and will always be a difficult one as long as they keep bringing in so many good players.
“But there are other games where we should have picked up more points, like last week against Tottenham. That is far more unacceptable than this. But even away at Brighton, a club like Liverpool should be able to get a result.”
The intensity of Brighton’s display stood in contrast to Liverpool’s lethargic showing, with Steven Gerrard questioning why Slot did not make more changes to freshen up his side. The former captain said Liverpool’s performance felt predictable.
“The performance wasn’t good enough but you can almost feel that this performance and this result was coming,” Gerrard told TNT Sports.
“Liverpool get a couple of injuries to key players like Salah, Allison, on the back of midweek, the manager speaking about maybe the lack of energy they might have, and then you look at Brighton’s plans to come and try and play a game with that intensity and that speed, that energy.
“We’ve seen it quite a few times this season now where they put in a lot of effort and they perform really well in the Champions League. “There’s all the emotion and all the energy and the intensity they have to put in to win those or get a result.
“It’s having a big effect on them at the weekend. They haven’t got the options in the squad or on the bench to make numerous changes, to bring that energy and that quality into the team to perform at the same level they do in midweek.
“Liverpool made a couple of changes that were forced on them, but the manager wanted to keep the team rather than make changes for energy, and it backfired today. Brighton deserved the win overall, and a big opportunity missed for Liverpool.”
