One of the key factors in Arne Slot‘s outstanding start to life at Liverpool is the lack of goals conceded, with the head coach identifying two reasons why.
In 12 games under Slot so far, the Reds have kept seven clean sheets and conceded only five goals – and never more than one per game.
They boast the best defensive record in the Premier League by far, with Nottingham Forest closest having conceded six and those around them at the top of the table shipping considerably more.
Slot attributes that to Liverpool’s ability to dominate possession, along with the quality of players he has in defence.
“There are two reasons why we don’t concede a lot,” he told reporters on Friday.
“One of them is that we – most games, almost all of them, maybe except for one – we dominated and controlled for large parts of the game.
“So it helps if you dominate, if you have the ball.
“But I also like that if there were difficult parts in the game, or for large parts in the game like we had against Chelsea, that the work rate is incredible.
“That is something that’s very important.
“If you combine that with having the likes of Virgil and Ibou and the two goalkeepers we’ve used until now, that is probably one of the reasons why we haven’t conceded that much.
“Then to be aware of the fact that we also have Jarell Quansah and Joe Gomez, we’re in a good place when it comes to centre-backs – and the goalkeeper speaks for itself I think.”
While Liverpool have only conceded three goals in the league and sit top of the table, they have won each of their last three games by a one-goal margin.
That was also the case against RB Leipzig in the Champions League in midweek, with Slot asked whether there was too much emphasis on his defence towards the end of games.
“I think every game has its own story,” he responded.
“The Leipzig game, I said about the difference in the period of rest we had in between the games, so that could be a factor where Leipzig were, in the end of the game, a bit better than we were.
“I don’t know if it had anything to do with it, but it could.
“I think when I look at the Crystal Palace game it was one or two transition moments where we were still, in my opinion, dominating the game but we were a bit unlucky or we didn’t have a good enough rest defence – combined with some set-pieces.
“I think the last chance Chelsea got was also from a set-piece.
“I liked the last six minutes of injury time we had in Leipzig where we constantly had the ball and controlled it. Those moments were not difficult.
“Also the Leipzig game, the first chance they had in the last 10 to 15 minutes was from a second phase set-piece.
“But yeah, you also concede the set-pieces, the other team is a bit stronger than you at that moment.
“I’m not worried, but I would prefer to see that we dominate until the end of the game.
“But it’s also good to see that, if we have to defend, that we have a team that defends with 11, with two outstanding centre-backs and a goalkeeper that makes saves as well.”
