Arne Slot Provides Explanation for Liverpool’s Defeat in a Behind-closed-door Friendly Against Preston North End

Liverpool suffered a 1-0 defeat against Preston North End in a private friendly match, marking Arne Slot’s first test of his team.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot described the 1-0 loss to Preston North End in Friday’s behind-closed-doors friendly as “a bit unlucky.” He pointed out that despite dominating the game and taking numerous shots, the team conceded only once. Preston’s goalkeeper, Freddie Woodman, was kept busy but managed to secure a clean sheet.

The decisive moment came in the first half when Robbie Brady scored from 40 yards, lobbing Vitezslav Jaros after dispossessing Conor Bradley.

Liverpool rotated their squad entirely at halftime, giving playing time to 25 different players. Key starters included Mohamed Salah, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Jarell Quansah, and Dominik Szoboszlai, with a younger lineup appearing in the second half.

Arne Slot emphasised that the primary goal was to assess the team’s performance under pressure, noting their misfortune despite creating more scoring opportunities than their Championship opponents.

The Dutchman, after his first match on the touchline, told LFCTV: “After two weeks of tough training sessions, it’s important to play a game as well. The most important thing was that everybody was fit before the game and they stayed fit during the game as well.

“It has been a good two weeks. Unfortunately, the result today was not what we wanted but they stayed fit, many of them got minutes, and I saw a lot of young players who got a few minutes. That is a good thing.”

When Slot was asked whether he observed any aspects of Liverpool’s play that they had been working on in training, he replied: “Definitely. I’ve seen this a lot during the training sessions; a bit more than today but they also had to deal with the playing style of the opponent.

“Like I said, we controlled the game completely and we only conceded one shot. We had some good build-up and some good chances in the first half. Second half, I didn’t think we did that much which is normal because there were a lot of young players who didn’t play in their normal positions as well.

“We couldn’t ask for more from the boys in the first two weeks. They worked really hard and tried to implement the ideas and it is not that we only bring new ideas — a lot things here were really good. We were a bit unlucky to lose 1-0.”

Slot is still missing several key players following Euro 2024 and Copa America. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Alexis Mac Allister, and Luis Diaz reached the finals of these tournaments with their respective teams: England, Argentina, and Colombia.

The 45-year-old coach, who will soon travel to America with his team, said: “Every session and every game gives you new ideas of where you have to work on but there are still 10 or 11 players who played many minutes last season. They are not in the building yet.

“It was good to see some young players do some good things. The ones we have, they stayed fit and showed some good things today and especially in the last two weeks. That is something to take into our USA tour.”

Liverpool’s three-game tour in the United States begins with a match against Real Betis in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 27.

They will then face Arsenal in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Thursday, August 1. The tour concludes with a game against Manchester United in Columbia, South Carolina on Sunday, August 4.

The team has a friendly match lined up at Anfield against Sevilla on Sunday, August 11. Following this, Liverpool start their first Premier League season without Jurgen Klopp since 2015 by playing against newly-promoted Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Saturday, August 17, with a lunchtime kick-off.

In other Liverpool news, “Already Decided” – Ben Jacobs Drops Relief Update Involving Arne Slot and Liverpool Star