Arne Slot was generally pleased with Liverpool’s performance in a 5-2 win vs West Ham. The boss raved over set-piece improvement, discussed the drop in play that led to the Hammers’ goals and provided a big update on Florian Wirtz’s injury.
Set Piece Specialist
As mentioned in the 3 Things We Learned, Liverpool lead the EPL with 9 set-piece goals in 2026. Slot shared his thoughts on what has caused the turnaround.
“Things went back to normal,” Slot said. “Mainly, because I just said that we’ve created quite a lot of chances in the first half of the season that constantly did not go in, or too many times did not go in with being unlucky. We were a lot of times very close. And even today, we conceded the set-piece, they scored one, and they could have scored a second one in the first half – that would have been the first one, but you know what I mean. Maybe one or two small details have changed defensively and offensively, I think we are set up slightly, slightly different. But the biggest reason is that things go back to normal. There was a period of time that we were 23 goals behind Arsenal in set-pieces, including penalties, by the way. And we’re still not only three goals away from them, but we’ve closed the gap a little bit. Although you never know what can happen this weekend with Arsenal, because I wouldn’t be surprised if they scored three from set-pieces this weekend as well.”
The Dip
Liverpool’s performance was not perfect as the Reds surrendered a pair of goals in the second half.
“This happened, I think more this season, that there were three, four or five minutes during a game where we struggled a little bit,” Slot said. “But, as I said here so many times, usually in those four or five minutes a ball went in, and if that then happens at 0-0, you have a different feeling because you’re 1-0 down than when it happens at 3-0 up. I don’t think there was ever a moment that they were close to closing the gap to one goal. They scored the 3-1, I think we [then] had the biggest chance for 4-1.”
Injury Update
Slot provided a disappointing update on the status of Florian Wirtz and his back injury.
“I think that will be too early, but I said last week I didn’t expect him not to be available for today, so sometimes with an injury, things can develop in a positive way or in a negative way. Now we are thinking it doesn’t have to take too long, but Tuesday will probably be too early. The week after will be tight as things stand now, but as I said, I thought that he would be available for today as well, which didn’t happen unfortunately.”
LFC Globe Verdict
It didn’t seem as if Slot was too upset with Liverpool conceding the two goals, or if he was, it was overshadowed by his pleasure in the set pieces. Let’s see if this strong play can continue in the coming days.