Arne Slot laments Liverpool’s ‘disappointing’ defending in FA Community Shield defeat to Crystal Palace - ‘Need to do better’

Arne Slot suffered disappointment on Sunday, after his Liverpool side were edged out on penalties by Crystal Palace in the FA Community Shield. Palace were victorious in the shoot-out, but Slot believes the damage was done during the 90 minutes, as he was left to rue some costly defensive lapses by his players. The Reds begin their Premier League campaign against Bournemouth on Friday.

Arne Slot lamented Liverpool’s defensive lapses after his side were beaten on penalties by Crystal Palace in the FA Community Shield at Wembley.

Oliver Glasner's side were victorious in English football's curtain raiser, winning the shoot-out 3-2, after the match finished level at 2-2 following an entertaining 90 minutes of play in the London sunshine.

Dean Henderson denied Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott from 12 yards, while Mohamed Salah blazed over the bar, before substitute Justin Devenny scored the winning penalty.

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Reflecting on the match, Reds boss Slot told TNT Sports: "It’s disappointing if you are twice a goal up and still not able to win the game.

"The game was quite even, I think. There were moments where we could have won it, but in the end, they came close to scoring the winner as well.

"It was an even game, and then it goes to penalties, which they did better than us.

"In the first 15 to 20 minutes, we had chances to get a third one. We didn't score that one, then I think it was neutral and nothing happened until the moment they scored to make it 2-2.

"Maybe we could have scored the third one in the first 15 to 20 minutes after half-time, but we didn't. We kept them alive, and they scored a very good goal, and came close to scoring the winner in the end as well."

Highlights: Palace win Community Shield on penalties after Ekitike scores first Liverpool goal

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The Liverpool manager has been left frustrated by his side’s tendency to leak goals during pre-season, highlighting the 3-2 win and 4-2 defeat to Athletic Club and AC Milan respectively as examples.

But on the flip side, the Dutchman was pleased to see what he recognised as improvements in Liverpool’s play going forward.

"If you look at our attacking play against a team that is so compact, that might be a bit better than last season," he explained.

"I think we created more chances than last season. We could only score one goal against Palace, [in both Premier League games last season], now we scored two.

"We created more against a team that is so compact. But on the other hand, we again conceded two goals, which we did against Bilbao. And we conceded a couple more against Milan, so there is something we need to do better."

'That's how you announce your arrival!' - Ekitike fires Liverpool ahead inside four minutes

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Slot also praised the overall move which led to Hugo Ekitike’s first goal in a Liverpool shirt to break the deadlock, but says his team must focus on shutting up shop at the back as they aim to defend the Premier League title.

"Good team goal, the first one," Slot said. "I think that is one of the examples where we are even more creative. The combinations sometimes look sharper than last season. It was about keeping a clean sheet and then just attacking as much as we could and creating a few chances.

"Now, I think we're able to create more. But like I said, we are conceding more at the moment as well, and if you want to compete to win the league, one of the main things is not to concede chances, let alone goals. I don't say we conceded a lot today, but too much to win the game."

'I'm very happy with the squad' - Glasner speaks after Palace win Community Shield

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Glasner: ‘Players are starting to believe’

Oliver Glasner was delighted to lead his Palace side to another major trophy at Wembley, three months on from their stunning FA Cup success.

The Austrian hailed the character of his players after twice recovering from a goal down to earn a draw after 90 minutes, ahead of a pulsating win in the shoot-out.

He said: "I like it [the feeling of winning at Wembley]. I have to give big credit to the players for this win today; we came back and were able to decide the game on penalties.

"We were on the same level as Liverpool, and it was a big performance. I'm proud of the team.

"We know what we can do and how we can create chances. Things have developed over 18 months and the players are really starting to believe in what we are doing. I knew we could score at least two goals."

Crystal Palace lift Community Shield trophy after beating Liverpool at Wembley

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Glasner is relishing the prospect of leading Palace into Europe – either in the UEFA Europa League or UEFA Conference League – and is delighted with the current state of his squad amid ongoing speculation regarding ins and outs at Selhurst Park.

He continued: "I'm very happy with the squad because they just won another trophy. I see the number of games we have to play next season as a reward, we want to win something and we want European football.

"We might miss Daichi Kamada - who got injured today - at Chelsea next week and it's times like this where we will assess our targets and find the right players."

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The Palace boss also praised Devenny for having the courage to put himself forward to take the decisive penalty.

"Justin came to me and said 'I'll take it, I'll take the last one'," Glasner revealed.

"I like him having this confidence and the determination to win us the game, he will play many minutes for us this season."

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