Liverpool manager Arne Slot conceded his team need to get their act together in defence when they begin their Premier League campaign, after defeat in the Community Shield to Crystal Palace on Sunday.
The Premier League title holders have spent heavily in the summer, signing playmaker Florian Wirtz, plus forward Hugo Ekitike and attacking full-backs Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, even as key players departed Anfield.
Liverpool won the league in Slot's first term with only Federico Chiesa added to the squad left by former boss Jurgen Klopp. Fans would have expected the team to only grow stronger after the transfer spree.
The new-look Liverpool side has started brightly, scoring 20 goals in six pre-season friendlies. But after conceding two goals to Palace, having shipped eight in their last four warm-up games, Slot expressed concern that Liverpool's improved attack may have come at a price.
“Last season we had a lot of ball possession but that didn't always lead to promising situations,” Slot said after they were beaten 3-2 on penalties following a 2-2 draw with Palace.
“Now we are better in creating and getting promising situations than we were, in my opinion, throughout the whole last season.
“But the other side is also true. What made us really strong last season was we only won mostly [by] a margin of one goal and that had mostly to do with us keeping a clean sheet or as a maximum conceding one goal.”
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Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi lifts the Community Shield after their penalty shoot-out victory over Liverpool at Wembley Stadium on August 10, 2025. PA -
Crystal Palace players pose with the Community Shield following their 3-2 shoot-out win over Liverpool after the match finished 2-2 after 90 minutes. Reuters -
Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta, Chris Richards, Jefferson Lerma and Daniel Munoz celebrate after winning the shoot-out. Reuters -
Crystal Palace's Justin Devenny scores in the shoot-out to seal victory against Liverpool. AFP -
Palace keeper saves from Alexis Mac Allister of Liverpool during the shoot out. Getty Images -
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah blazes over the bar during the shoot-out. Reuters -
Crystal Palace's Ismaila Sarr scores in the 77th minute to make it 2-2. Reuters -
Jeremie Frimpong celebrates scoring Liverpool's second goal with Ibrahima Konate and Hugo Ekitike. Reuters -
Jeremie Frimpong scores a fortuitous second for Liverpool as his cross sails into the net. Getty Images -
Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta celebrates scoring in the 21st minute. Reuters -
Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta scores from the spot to make it 1-1. PA -
Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta sends Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker the wrong way from the penalty spot. AFP -
Hugo Ekitike celebrates scoring Liverpool's first goal after four minutes. Getty Images -
Summer signing Hugo Ekitike scores Liverpool's first goal despite the attentions of Palace duo Daichi Kamada and Chris Richards. EPA -
Crystal Palace fans with flares protest against Uefa's decision to demote them from the Europa League. Reuters -
Liverpool players pay tribute to former player Diogo Jota, who died in a car accident in July. Getty Images -
Liverpool and Crystal Palace players line up as a banner in memory of Diogo Jota is displayed by fans in the background prior to kick-off. PA
He added: “It needs maybe a little bit of adjustment defensively at the moment because we don't concede a lot of chances, but we do concede goals at the moment.”
Still, Slot is confident Liverpool can integrate their new signings, adding that “sometimes you need some time either to adapt offensively, to adapt defensively”.
Liverpool maintained their pattern of pre-season friendlies as they were cut open with ease on the counter-attack. AC Milan beat Slot's team 4-2 in Hong Kong, while Liverpool edged out Athletic Bilbao 3-2 in one of two friendlies against the Basques on their return to Anfield on Monday.
“If you look at our attacking play against a team that is so compact, that might be a bit better than last season,” said Slot.
“We only could score one goal against Palace [last season]. Now we scored two and created more against them.
“But, on the other hand, we conceded two goals, which we did against Bilbao, and we conceded a couple more against Milan, so that is something we need to do better.”
There was an unfortunate incident during the match that caused consternation.
A tribute to former Liverpool forward Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva was disrupted when some fans failed to observe a moment's silence.
Before the game at the Wembley Stadium both teams and their staff stood silently to commemorate the brothers, who died in a car accident in Spain in July. A minority of fans broke the silence, eliciting a strong response at the other end of the field as well as from other Eagles supporters who tried to silence those not respecting the tribute.
Referee Chris Kavanagh then blew his whistle to signal the end of the tribute.
Liverpool manager Slot later played down the incident.
“I don’t think this was planned, or that this was the idea of the fan that made some noise. Maybe he wasn’t aware of the fact that it was the minute of silence,” he said.
“And I think then the fans of Palace were trying to calm that person or those persons down … They tried to calm him down, but that was a bit noisy as well. And then our fans reacted, ‘Hey, what’s happening here?’”
