Arne Slot has admitted the three goals Liverpool conceded at Craven Cottage were preventable as the Dutchman fell to just a second Premier League loss as Reds boss.
Liverpool hadn’t lost a Premier League game since September prior to the trip to the capital on Sunday, but was comfortably beaten by a Fulham side who netted three first-half goals in just 15 minutes. Alexis Mac Allister had netted after 14 minutes but a sloppy Liverpool rearguard display presented Fulham with openings via mistakes from Curtis Jones, Andy Robertson and Virgil van Dijk.
Ibrahimina Konate also had some moments to forget, particularly when he presented the ball to Andreas Pereira in his own penalty area after just four minutes, while Caoimhin Kelleher could have done better for Fulham’s third goal.
Luis Diaz did net a late second for Liverpool but it wasn’t enough for Slot’s side to come away with anything from Craven Cottage. Afterwards, he was particularly frustrated with the lacklustre defending from his side.
“It’s not often we concede three goals let alone in one game or 15 minutes,” he told BBC’s Match of the Day. “We could have prevented it. We scored a good goal but apart from that the second half performance was much more what we’re like.”
“Conceding three goals like we did is not of the standards of Liverpool. We were creating chance after chance after chance [towards the end]. In the end we lacked time to make up for the three mistakes we made in the first half.”
(Image: 2025 Harry Murphy – Danehouse)
It wasn’t just the defenders who failed to impress. Mohamed Salah also had a day to forget and barely laid a glove on the opposition defense. It continues his run of four matches without a goal and he has now failed to net from open play in seven.
Slot had predicted ahead of the game that he would see Salah with a smile on his face at Fulham. It was the opposite, though, as the winger was drawn into a furious exchange with Jones in the first half.
But Slot isn’t worried and continues to back his main man. “Maybe he should see it as a compliment [that people are talking about it] because his numbers were not normal [when he was scoring]. The good thing about Mo is he knows what kind of player he is. Mo will show up again, I don’t worry about that.”
The defeat means Liverpool still needs 10 points from its final seven games to claim the Premier League title, something which still could be achieved in two weeks’ time if results go in its favor.
