JAKARTA – Liverpool manager, Arne Slot, admits a 2-3 defeat to Brentford as one of the most disappointing results during his tenure.
The reigning champions suffered a fourth consecutive league defeat at the Gtech Community Stadium and have now dropped to sixth place in the 2025/2026 Premier League standings.
This is the club’s worst record in the domestic league since February 2021. This season, Liverpool have lost the same number with their total defeats over the past season.
“I think this defeat is among the most disappointing I’ve been here. After 30 minutes, I think (Brentford) dominated the game again with long throws, set pieces, and other moments where they played very well,” said Arne Slot.
Liverpool became the fourth defending champion to lose four games in a row and this equaled the club’s record of the club’s longest defeat in the Premier League era.
Previously, they were defeated by Crystal Palace, Chelsea, and Manchester United. Arne Slot said that the defeat against Brentford was the worst of the four defeats.
“You can’t compare everything. The most worrying thing is that you lose four times in a row.”
“So, the results are always important. After that, you can assess the performance, which I think is the worst of the four defeats we suffered.”
“I don’t think we did the basic things right, especially in the first half and in some parts of the second half.”
“I think they won more duels than us, they won more second balls than us,” he told TNT Sports.
Brentford took a 2-0 lead after goals from Dango Ouattara and Kevin Schade. Milos Kerkez then brought Liverpool back to play in the first half injury time.
Igor Thiago’s penalty in the second half brought Brentford back in control until Mohamed Salah fired a brilliant shot into the top corner of the net in the 89th minute.
With 11 minutes of extra time, the Merseyside club stepped up pressure to find an equalizer but failed to find a gap.
This defeat means Liverpool can now end the weekend with a difference of seven points behind leaders Arsenal.
Despite being disappointed with his team’s performance, Arne Slot was also unhappy with the two crucial referee decisions.
Brentford’s second goal came moments after Cody Gakpo had a strong reason to claim a penalty following Nathan Collins’ tackle.
The home team was then awarded a controversial penalty in the second half when VAR ruled Virgil van Dijk had committed a foul.
Ouattara was violated in the penalty box and Thiago managed to execute a penalty kick.
“Just before they scored to change the score to 2-0, there was a moment where Cody dribbled in the box and they didn’t play the ball.”
“I think if you show both of these situations – the penalty we received and that moment – and you show it to every referee in the world, he will tell you maybe both or not at all.”
“If I had to give one of the two, I would definitely give the other one to Cody. However, yes, bad luck for us.”
“Is that the referee? I don’t think he meant to give a penalty for that, but he thought he was giving a free kick.”
“But then VAR says it’s inside. So, if you think it’s a free kick, then it’s a penalty. So, bad luck may come if you play football like we did,” said Arne Slot.
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