Beth LindopMar 5, 2026, 10:17 AM
CloseBased in Liverpool, Beth Lindop is ESPN’s Liverpool correspondent and also covers the WSL and UWCL.
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Arne Slot has said he is “almost annoyed” at suggestions his Liverpool side start games too slowly, insisting it is not down to the team’s approach.
Liverpool suffered their ninth Premier League defeat of the season with a 2-1 loss at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday night. It was the latest example of the Reds’ inability to start a game strongly, with only three of their 22 away league goals having come in the first half of matches this term.
Arne Slot rejected a claim about why Liverpool start games slowly. Marco BERTORELLO / AFP via Getty Images
“I’m almost annoyed if you say ‘that approach,’” Slot said. “The approach isn’t different. We want to have the ball as often as possible and then get it back as often as possible, so we press high. It’s never the approach that changes in the game. We bring enough players forward but we aren’t converting enough chances.”
Liverpool will return to Molineux again on Friday night to take on Wolves in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
“Every game is important,” Slot said. “Last season we tried to win four trophies, this season we did, two are now not possible, we can’t win the Premier League or League Cup. Qualification for Champions League is massive as we all know. But that’s not on line tomorrow, FA Cup is.”
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Slot’s side could be boosted by the return of Florian Wirtz, who has missed the last three games with a back problem.
“He trained half and half yesterday with the team,” Slot said. “What I mean with that is he was a ‘joker’, you say over here I think, so he made the next step in his rehab.
“So, let’s see where he is today and if he then could be available for a few — a few — minutes tomorrow, in the best scenario.”