Manager says teams now face his side believing they can get a good result
Arne Slot has admitted that Liverpool have lost their fear factor, after they were held to a 1-1 draw by newly promoted Sunderland.
The visitors left Merseyside with a point after Chemsdine Talbi’s second-half strike put pressure on the hosts before a late effort from Florian Wirtz, deflected off Nordi Mukiele, hauled Liverpool back into the game.
It followed defeats at home to Nottingham Forest and PSV Eindhoven, and was the third straight match at Anfield without a win in all competitions.
Asked whether opponents now arrive believing Liverpool can be beaten, Slot said: “Not Anfield, for sure. But it is clear that teams who play us now think they can get a result. Not only think, because that has been shown this season.”
Slot again left Mohamed Salah out of the starting XI, having first dropped him against West Ham last week. Salah was brought on for Cody Gakpo at the start of the second half as Liverpool searched for more ideas up front.
“In my opinion, Cody struggled to dominate the one-vs-ones,” Slot said. “If you want to score against teams pressing high you need a moment of magic or a set piece. In the first half we played Dominik Szoboszlai on the right and I changed to Mo on the right and Wirtz on the left.”
