EPL

Liverpool 'not good enough' in Forest defeat, says furious Slot

By Sports Desk September 14, 2024

Arne Slot slammed Liverpool's performance after their perfect start to his reign came crashing to a halt with Saturday's surprise 1-0 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest.

Callum Hudson-Odoi's deflected second-half strike proved decisive as Forest earned their first league victory at Anfield in 55 years, having last triumphed on the ground against Bill Shankly's Reds in 1969.

Liverpool's 14 shots throughout the game gave them a total expected goals (xG) figure of just 0.87, with only five of those attempts forcing Matz Sels into action.

The Reds boasted a 69.6% possession share but only marginally beat Forest's 56 final-third entries with 70 of their own, leaving Slot to bemoan their lethargic play in possession.

"The result frustrates me the most and we cannot be happy about how the game went. It was a stop-start game and we hardly created any chances," Slot told BBC Sport.

"We only have to look at ourselves, we have to be better. Far too many times we lost the ball around the area, it was not good enough. We have to be better with the ball.

"Our decisions and execution weren't good enough. 

"In general, we defended quite well but the two fast players came on and made it difficult for us. We took a lot of risks and in the end it was a very good goal."

 

Liverpool have now lost two of their last five Premier League matches at Anfield (three wins), having only lost one of their previous 58 before this run.

Forest, meanwhile, have won four straight away Premier League matches for the first time since 1995, and they sit just one point behind Liverpool in the early-season standings.

Boss Nuno Espirito Santo was delighted with their defensive work, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: "Liverpool are such a good team, it required a lot of effort from the players... the organisation, tackling and the covering.

"The only way to achieve anything here is if you are organised and do everything that you can.

"When you start the way we started with our wingers, Nico Dominguez and Elliot Anderson – all the effort of them tracking Liverpool's full-backs, it is a lot of energy.

"We are working hard and it is about building and believing in this idea that you can develop."

Related items

  • St. Benedict’s College strengthens lead atop SSFL Premier Division to six points after 2-0 win over East Mucurapo Secondary St. Benedict’s College strengthens lead atop SSFL Premier Division to six points after 2-0 win over East Mucurapo Secondary

    A brace from captain Derrel Garcia propelled ten-man St Benedict's College to a 2-0 victory over East Mucurapo Secondary School to strengthen their lead atop the Premier Division of the Secondary Schools Football League at the Queen’s Royal College Ground, Serpentine Road, Port-of-Spain on Saturday. 

    Garcia’s first goal came in the 59th minute as he quickly latched on to a Cam'Ron Burke pass before unleashing a right-footed shot from 20-yards out that beat Mucurapo goalkeeper Orlando Francis. 

    The former Trinidad & Tobago youth player got his second goal of the game nine minutes from full time with a brilliantly placed strike from just outside the box after beating two defenders.

    The win instead ensured that St. Benedict's College maintained a six-point advantage at the top while defending champions Fatima College played to 2-2 draw with Speyside at their home ground on Mucurapo Road, Port-of-Spain. 

    The other results on Saturday were as follows:

    Malick Secondary 1-3 Presentation College

    Fatima College 2-2 Speyside Secondary

    Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High 1-1 Signal Hill Secondary

    Naparima College 2-0 St Mary's College

    St Anthony's College 4-1 Queen’s Royal College

    St Augustine Secondary 1-1 San Juan North Secondary

    Trinity College 1-1 Arima North Secondary

    St. Benedict’s lead the 16-team table with 28 points from 10 games, six ahead of Presentation in second and eight ahead of defending champions Fatima College in third.

    St. Anthony’s and Arima North close out the top five with 18 points each while the top 10 is rounded out by Naparima (15 points), St. Augustine (14 points), QRC (13 points), Malick (11 points) and San Juan North (10 points).

    St. Mary’s (10 points), Signal Hill (9 points), Trinity East (7 points), Speyside (6 points), East Mucurapo (6 points) and Miracle Ministries (4 points) round out the points standings.

  • Clarke aiming to prove Scotland doubters wrong against in-form Portugal Clarke aiming to prove Scotland doubters wrong against in-form Portugal

    Steve Clarke is aiming to prove the doubters wrong when Scotland welcome Portugal to Hampden Park in their Nations League clash on Tuesday. 

    Scotland sit bottom of Group A1 after losing all three of their matches in the competition, the latest of which came in a 2-1 defeat to Croatia in Zagreb. 

    The loss saw Clarke's side extend their longest winless run in competitive matches in their history to nine (D3 L6), while they have now lost four consecutive games for the first time in five years.

    Scotland's recent run of form includes their dismal showing at Euro 2024, as they failed to reach the knockout stages for a sixth time at a major tournament, picking up just one point from their three games in Germany, though Clarke remains optimistic.

    "It's a tough moment, no doubt about it, but we believe in ourselves," Clarke told BBC Sport.

    "After 20 years in the international wilderness, this group has got to two major tournaments and been promoted to the top level of the Nations League, so I don't understand why there would be doubts.

    "We have to believe in what we are doing and when I look at the players on the pitch, I believe in what we're doing.

    "The players understand where we are in the process, and they are ready to go again.

    "They understand that we are playing difficult opponents, and they understand the squad could be stronger.

    "I don't speak about that too much, since we have to concentrate on who we have here.

    "We have to go out against Portugal, and we know we have to be good at everything we do in the game."

    But in aiming to rediscover that winning feeling, they face an uphill task against a Portugal side who have won each of their last seven competitive away games by an aggregate score of 22-1.

    Scotland have also lost each of their last four matches against the Selecao, with the Scots only currently on a longer run of defeats against Belgium and Brazil (both six). 

    But one positive from their display against Croatia was the performance of Ben Doak.

    At 18 years and 336 days old, Doak became the youngest player to start a competitive match for Scotland since Willie Johnston against Poland in 1965 (18 years and 298 days) against Croatia.

    However, Clarke stressed the importance of not piling too much pressure onto the youngster's shoulders so early into his international career. 

    "We're already starting to grow the next generation of players," Clarke said.

    "As well as trying to be good now, I’m trying to leave a group who are ready to carry on. We don't want 20 years after this group without the success we all want.

    "We want Ben to be a talent for the next 15 years, not 15 months, so don't put too much pressure on him.

    "He's a young man, he will make mistakes in the game, he will do really good things in the game.

    "We need to get the balance right between giving Ben the opportunity to play, which he's more than capable of taking, and protecting him a bit, make sure we don't overhype."

  • Barcelona dealt potential Clasico blow as Yamal suffers hamstring strain Barcelona dealt potential Clasico blow as Yamal suffers hamstring strain

    Barcelona have confirmed Lamine Yamal suffered a left hamstring strain while on international duty with Spain.

    The 17-year-old limped off in the 93rd minute of their Nations League clash against Denmark on Saturday before returning to Barcelona to undergo further tests.

    He was one of La Roja's brightest players in the 1-0 victory, having five of their 25 shots, the most by a Spain player in the competition this season.

    However, he is now set for an undetermined spell on the sidelines, though he is likely to miss their LaLiga match against Sevilla on Sunday.

    Yamal has started 11 of Barca's 12 games in all competitions so far, and Hansi Flick will be hoping he is not set to endure a long layoff, with matches against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and Real Madrid in the league also coming up next week.

    If he is not involved, it would prove a huge blow for Barcelona. This season, Yamal and Robert Lewandowski have been involved in 21 Barcelona goals in LaLiga, the best goalscoring duo of any club in the big five European Leagues.

    "Tests carried out this morning on first team player Lamine Yamal have confirmed that he has a left hamstring strain. His return to training will be determined by his recovery time," Barcelona said in a statement on social media.

    Barcelona return to league action this weekend when they welcome Sevilla to the Camp Nou on Sunday.

     

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.