Arne Slot has admitted Liverpool 'crumbled' in the second half at Aston Villa as a 4-2 defeat dealt a 'damaging' blow to their hopes of securing Champions League qualification. The Reds missed the chance to guarantee a top-five Premier League finish on Friday evening at Villa Park.
After Virgil van Dijk had cancelled out Morgan Rogers' opener, a mistake from Dominik Szoboszlai allowed Ollie Watkins to restore the home side's lead. Watkins and John McGinn then added further goals as Liverpool struggled to respond, with Van Dijk's injury-time strike proving little more than consolation.
'It's damaging because we needed either a win or maybe, maybe, maybe two draws would have been enough as well,' Slot said. 'After the 2-1 we crumbled, and we struggled. In the end we came back to 4-2, so they did not give up, but we struggled to control their pace, intensity and quality.'
Liverpool now need to beat Brentford at Anfield on the final day to secure a Champions League berth, unless results elsewhere spare them a nervy finale. Slot also expressed frustration at recurring set-piece issues, noting a negative balance against Manchester United, Chelsea and Villa. 'Dominik has had a very good season and he doesn't do it on purpose,' he added of Szoboszlai's error.
