Liverpool boss Arne Slot defends Salah after Chelsea defeat, says no need to panic: ‘He’s a human being’

Liverpool boss Arne Slot insisted there was no need for panic after his side once again succumbed to a last-gasp goal in a 2-1 defeat at Chelsea on Saturday, condemning the side to three losses in a row for the first time in his tenure.

Brazilian teenager Estevao’s first Chelsea goal in the 95th minute snatched all three points for the hosts, after an end-to-end finish to a game in which both sides struggled for control.

Liverpool have now lost consecutive Premier League games at the death after Crystal Palace’s 97th-minute winner last weekend, with the Reds seemingly having used up all their luck in dramatic finishes earlier this season.

Slot defends Salah, Liverpool’s poor form

With a limp loss to Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday in between, Liverpool have lost three on the bounce for the first time since March and April 2023.

Concerningly for Slot, Liverpool again looked totally disjointed against Chelsea, particularly in the first half – despite just two of their starting outfield players having joined this summer.

Slot, however, chalked the defeat up to fine margins going against his side and the impact of a turbulent off-season, with the tragic death of Diogo Jota and key players leaving.

He added: “If the result would have been better today with a draw or a win – which was both possible, I don’t say we deserved it, a draw we definitely deserved – but then we would have had a great start to the season, if you take into account everything that happened in the summer in Liverpool”.

At the top of the pitch, record signing Alexander Isak looks off the pace after a curtailed pre-season and Mohamed Salah was again underwhelming.

Salah’s form is a particular worry, with just five goals in his last 21 Liverpool games. He spurned chances he would surely have converted in the same form as this time last season, but Slot said Salah was a victim of his own success.

“Today he had many opportunities to do what he’s done so often, but he’s a human being and it’s not like every chance he gets is always a goal,” Slot said.

“We feel sometimes it is because of what he’s done last season and so many times, but he can also have a game where he has chances and a lot of times in promising positions and doesn’t have a goal or an assist.”