Liverpool boss feels his side “never get a penalty” after illegal contact in the box
Arne Slot was disappointed after his side were held to a goalless draw at Anfield but Liverpool’s boss felt his side were denied a clear penalty.
A 0-0 draw with Leeds extended Liverpool’s run to eight games unbeaten in all competitions, although the champions were left frustrated by the disciplined performance put in by Daniel Farke’s side.
Slot said it was “a disappointment” that his side have drawn home and away to Leeds in the space of a month, but he might be more worried about how difficult it was for his side to create clear goalscoring opportunities at home against a newly promoted side.
“From all the ball possession we have, we do generate chances, but I don’t think it is enough or maybe it should be enough if you look at the expected goals, but we should be able to create more,” Slot said.
Virgil van Dijk came closest to breaking the deadlock but his picture-book header from a corner bounced narrowly wide.
“We were very close with Virgil, but we didn’t and this season multiple times we have conceded a goal in a game like this and that’s a positive thing today,” said Slot. “We kept a clean sheet and that’s why we have a draw today.”
There was also irritation on the Liverpool bench over a first-half incident involving Hugo Ekitike, who felt he was pulled by Jaka Bijol inside the box. Referee Chris Kavanagh waved play on, and VAR did not intervene.
Slot said his team were not going down enough under illegal contact but reserved the most criticism for the officiating.
“There was an obvious moment in the first half where we didn’t go to the floor, which I understand because every time we go to the floor we never get a penalty,” Slot said. “Those are the margins, I see other teams going down in situations like that, but we don’t do that.
“We’ve gone down when fouls were made multiple times this season and not got a penalty. In general we do speak about it and other players going down easily to get free kicks or other moments but this is who we are.
“Against West Ham Lucas Paqueta tried everything possible to get a second yellow and Alisson, who plays with him on the national team, tried to help him not get a yellow. In the end he got the second yellow in that game.
“If other fans or people look into it you will find moments where we went down and didn’t get anything. In the end it is who we are.”
