Lock sees

The Reds now sit fourth in the Premier League and are unbeaten in seven games, following the hard-earned three points at Anfield on Saturday.

Liverpool took a 2-0 lead but let in a twelfth goal of the Premier League season – no team has conceded more.

Speaking to reporters after the match, Slot assessed his champions’ woes in that area. He found positives, but also admitted that improvements were needed.

“Scoring goals in the Premier League is not easy, I mean in open play,” says Slot said.

“I see this in almost every match I watch as the number of goals scored keeps increasing.

“Unfortunately, we are perhaps the only team that almost never scores from a set piece, and worse still: we constantly concede.

“But I think I said two, three or four weeks ago, we have to make sure that if things go against us – [it] It could be a set piece, it could be other things – we still have to find a way to win the game.

“In the last two games we conceded a set-piece, but we were able to win and that hasn’t happened that often this season.

“That’s progress for me again, but it’s clear there are more things we can improve on and this is certainly one of them. Although we had a great set piece – the first one after half-time.”

“It was fully explained to the players at half-time – not by me, by anyone else – and it was an open chance for Florian, but unfortunately it ended up on the wrong side of the post.

“I think we’ve been unlucky in our set-pieces in several situations; it’s 18 games now and we have to improve.”

Liverpool have conceded 26 goals this season, 12 of which have come from set pieces, which is 46%.

Slot defenders (usually Top Reds and club-friendly media) will only focus on Konate and practice gymnastics to avoid Slot’s responsibility and his coaching responsibility. https://t.co/KldPI2RCt5

— Partial Beard (@PartedBeard) December 27, 2025

Liverpool’s Achilles heel that simply needs to improve

While Slot is right to try to be optimistic after improved form and results, Liverpool’s ineptitude from set pieces this season is unacceptable.

The best teams are very strong in such situations and don’t allow soft goals, but the Reds are the opposite of that and give opponents the way back into the games.

It’s hard to explain why the Reds are struggling so much, especially as the title-winning defensive axis of Alisson, Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate is still in place.

That said, Jeremy Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Florian Wirtz are minor signings, and Liverpool may have been left behind compared to other clubs who focus more on physicality and set pieces.

However, being the worst team in the league in terms of conceding from these areas is alarming, not least because the Reds were only crowned champions seven months ago.

It needs to change, and quickly, because this undefeated streak is not sustainable without significant improvements being made.