Slot knows stronger starts are crucial to stopping the rot

CARABAO CUP LAST 16: LIVERPOOL V C.PALACE, WED

- By PAUL GORST

ORDINARILY, a place in the fifth round of the Carabao Cup might not represent a sizable reward for a Liverpool manager.

But as Arne Slot continues to assess the wreckage of a run that has seen him lose five of the last six games, victory against Crystal Palace tomorrow is now almost imperative.

Passage to the next round of the cup won't be as prized as a win itself though, as Liverpool go about dodging the avalanche of debate and criticism that has rolled in at some pace since the start of this run.

Inevitably, the critiquing and the analysis of the problems have been intense in recent weeks and Slot's admission that he has yet to counteract the fact that the opposition have essentially figured out a blueprint to success against the Premier League champions has caused some concern.

“Teams have a certain playing style against us, which is a very good strategy to play and we haven't found an answer yet,” Slot said after Saturday's 3-2 loss at Brentford.

“Going down 1-0 every time doesn’t help either. Teams know which strategy to play against us.

“Even when we didn’t play well today we still scored twice from open play but you can’t compete up there (at the top of the table) because we simply concede too many goals.