Arne Slot will be heading into his third derby between Liverpool and Manchester United on Sunday.
So far, the Dutchman is unbeaten in the fixture, with the Reds winning one and losing one last term.
Sunday’s Premier League clash will be the first time in the 2025-26 season that the rivals are facing one another, with Slot looking to get the Anfield outfit out of their current three-game losing streak.
Before the international break, fans weren’t likely all that confident about beating the Red Devils, but now that Alexis Mac Allister has bagged a brace for Argentina and Dominik Szoboszlai has starred for Hungary, there’s a bit more optimism around the Liverpool camp.
This, however, hasn’t stopped Slot from pointing out one of the main things his team need to work on before Sunday.
Arne Slot says Liverpool need to be able to defend crosses better
There’s no hiding from the fact that things haven’t quite gone to plan for Liverpool this season.
Many expected them to run away with the Premier League title, but now that they’ve lost three games in a row, some pundits, such as Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker, are changing their minds.
One of Liverpool’s main problems this season has been Ibrahima Konate’s poor form.
The Frenchman is in some of his worst form ever, with Slot now saying that the Reds need to be able to defend crosses better if they want to compete this season.
“I think what we can say is, if we compare ourselves to last season, we don’t create as many chances as we did at the start of last season,” he said during his press conference.
“But we’re still the team that, from open play, creates the most chances, the most shots on target.
“We’ve conceded too many goals, that’s for sure. We’ve conceded nine, and four of them are from set-pieces. That is what was, and still is by the way, a strength of ours, which sounds weird if you concede four.
“But that’s not a reflection of chances we’ve conceded in terms of set-pieces.
“The other five were two fast breaks and three from open play, I think in open play we are conceding too many crosses, so that is one of the things what we have to address and what we have to do better.”
Liverpool need some of their defenders to get out of their current slump
As mentioned, Konate has been one of Liverpool’s worst performers this season.
He may be back training with the team after being sent home early from France’s national squad, but that doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed a starting place in Liverpool’s 11 against the Red Devils.
Milos Kerkez hasn’t been up to scratch for Slot, either, with the Hungarian failing to adapt to being a Liverpool player.
Indeed, this is likely because he is not being given as much freedom to roam on the left side of the pitch as he had with Bournemouth, but that does not mean his defensive capabilities should have vanished.
If Liverpool want to win the Premier League title this season, their back line has to improve massively.
Otherwise, they could end up scrapping for points and even miss out on the title to Arsenal.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
