The reaction was clear at the full time whistle from Arne Slot, as he was not a happy man as his Liverpool side lost at Brighton on Saturday to put a big dent in their top four hopes.
MORE — Brighton v Liverpool recap, video highlights
Add in losing Hugo Ekitike to injury early in the game to add another star to Liverpool’s growing injury list and it was not a nice outing to the seaside for Slot.
Reigning champions Liverpool have now lost 10 Premier League games this season.
Below is the latest Arne Slot reaction from the Amex Stadium after Liverpool’s defeat at Brighton.
Arne Slot reaction
On his thoughts on the game from a Liverpool perspective: “First half was an equal game,” Slot told TNT Sports in the UK. “Of course was a big blow for us that one of the two strikers that we have available with Hugo and Alex, was already not here and the other one has to go off after two minutes. That is usually not helpful. Especially not if you look at how well Hugo played on Wednesday. The first half was an equal game. In the second half Brighton was the better team on the pitch.”
On Hugo Ekitike’s injury: “I think the players, the fans, we all know there are only eight games to go to qualify for the Champions League and every game you have to miss is something you are upset about. I think him having to go off after two minutes and not being able to help the team anymore with something that is just a bit of bad luck. It’s not like he’s out for three months, at least that is what I assume, but it is bad enough not to be able to continue and that is a big blow for him and in the end a blow for us.”
On the lack of consistency and not following up the midweek win against Galatasaray: “It’s clear we’ve lost a lot of points after playing in Europe. I’ve tried to explain a lot of times why this is. But today we also have to give credit to Brighton. I think in the second half they were the better team on the pitch.”
On the race for qualification for the Champions League, with Slot saying before the game Liverpool won’t need to win all eight games left, and if it feels like games are running out: “Yeah, but that is what I already meant before the game, what I thought was that you don’t need to have 24 points to qualify and hopefully I am right because we are not able to get 24 points out of the eight games anymore. We did understand and I knew that it was a final. We kept trying. In the second half two or three times we were close but they were closer to scoring the third one than us scoring the second one. The players kept trying, fighting and unfortunately it wasn’t enough after a week like this.”
On how much pressure is on after the international break: “There is always pressure at Liverpool. On me, on the players, that is completely normal. Qualify for the quarterfinals of the FA Cup and the Champions League and in the league we need to make sure that in the end we qualify for Champions League but as much as I dislike us losing here today, I think Brighton away has always been a difficult one and will always be a difficult one as long as they keep bringing so many good players in here. There are other games where we should have picked up our points, like last week, being 1-0 up in the 90th minute against Tottenham, that is far more unacceptable than this. Although away at Brighton, a club like Liverpool should be able to get a result.”
