Slot admits Liverpool 'crumbled' against Villa but defends players' mentality

Arne Slot has defended the mentality of his Liverpool players despite admitting they "crumbled" during their 4-2 defeat to top-five rivals Aston Villa.

Both teams knew a victory at Villa Park would secure their place in the Champions League for next season, and it was Unai Emery's hosts that earned a deserved three points.

Ollie Watkins netted twice, and though Virgil van Dijk also did so at the other end, Morgan Rogers and John McGinn got on the scoresheet with curling efforts as Emery became the first Villa manager to qualify for the European Cup/Champions League in two different seasons. 

While Villa are now guaranteed to play in Europe's elite competition regardless of whether they beat Freiburg in Wednesday's Europa League final, Liverpool may still need to defeat Brentford on the final day to join them, depending on results elsewhere.

Liverpool are now winless in each of their last six Premier League games against teams starting the day in the top five (D1 L5), since winning 1-0 at home to Arsenal on matchday three this season. 

But when asked if his players' mentality was up to scratch, Slot told Sky Sports that he was content with the fight they showed.

"You are referring to the period where we struggled after the goal for 2-1, but overall, I don't think the players deserve what you are saying," Slot said. 

"They did cope with this difficult away game and were fully in the game and able to maybe get a result. But I agree with you, after the 2-1, we crumbled, we struggled. 

"In the end, we came back to 4-2, so they did not give up, but we struggled to control their pace, intensity and quality."

Liverpool have now conceded 52 goals in the Premier League this season, with this the first time they have ever shipped 50 or more in a single campaign.

And Slot admits that the dire defensive record has held the Reds back, adding: "We've definitely conceded far too many goals. 

"We also haven't scored enough goals, although two at Villa Park is not bad. If you told me we did that before the game, I would think we were not far from a good result."

But Slot also feels Liverpool's lack of creativity and struggles when defending set-pieces are major issues.

"When we are the better team, we struggle to find that goal, mainly because we are not able to create big enough chances when we are the better team," he said.

"When we have a period of time when we are struggling, or the other team are better than us, we tend to concede too easily. 

"Before this game, there was only Bournemouth that had conceded more set-piece goals than us. After this, I would not be surprised if we are number one. That is never a good thing."

And Slot would be correct, as excluding penalties, Liverpool's 20 goals conceded from set-pieces this season are a league-high figure – 11 of those have come from corners, their most-ever in a Premier League campaign. 

Liverpool have also lost 19 games in all competitions this season. Since they were last promoted to the top-flight in 1962, only in 1992-93 (20) have they suffered more defeats in a campaign (also 19 in 2004-05 and 2009-10).