Liverpool are gearing up for a vital clash with Galatasaray in the Champions League on Wednesday. The Reds suffered a 1-0 loss in the first leg of their round of 16 clash, presenting Arne Slot’s squad with a hurdle to overcome in reaching the quarter-finals.
Slot’s attention now shifts back to the Champions League as he attempts to revive Liverpool’s campaign. The Dutch head coach will be hoping his team can snap the pattern against Galatasaray and avoid repeating previous errors.
Meanwhile, Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has revealed the squad’s worries about potentially failing to qualify for the Champions League next term. Here, Express Sport examines some of the top stories surrounding the Reds.
Slot found himself lamenting familiar shortcomings as his side squandered an opportunity against Spurs. Whilst the Reds closed to within two points of Aston Villa in fourth position, the Liverpool boss acknowledged that the team may come up short of their targets if they cannot address some of their persistent problems.
“Of course it is damaging but how many times has this been damaging for us (this season)?” he asked, “We don’t help ourselves at all. It is so many times this season we have created much more xG or chances than the amount of goals we score.
“Usually in the Premier League you see a lot of teams outperforming their xG but that definitely is not what we are doing. Then the game stays tight until the end and we struggle to keep clean sheets.
“We haven’t had as many clean sheets as you would want if you want to go higher up in the table. That’s a bad combination for picking up the amount of points we want to pick up.”
Liverpool star Szoboszlai has disclosed that the team has already held discussions, emphasising the importance of securing a Champions League spot. The midfielder also expressed his worries about the mood at Anfield ahead of their crucial match against Galatasaray.
“We had already a couple of weeks ago a talk between each other saying: ‘Guys we don’t have such a lot of time to do this right so we have to wake up and start to go in a way that we want to play Champions League next season’,” Szoboszlai said.
“We have Galatasaray on Wednesday and that will be a tough game because we felt it there. I don’t think it helps us also that after 80 minutes people start to go home, it doesn’t help us at all. Stick with us.
“Everyone is noticing that and when we concede a goal still people are leaving the stadium – you don’t leave when we score. I understand the frustration but we need them, we need everybody, and that’s the most important.”