Premier League English

Liverpool are finding it increasingly harder to break teams down, says Arne Slot

The Reds’ hard-fought victory in west London came after successive draws to Manchester United and Nottingham Forest, leading their gaffer Arne Slot to believe it has become harder for Liverpool to score goals after they left it till late to earn a stoppage-time 2-0 victory over Brentford.

The league-leaders, who had 37 shots on Saturday, needed Darwin Nunez’s miraculous double to secure a precious three points in their bid for Premier League glory.

The hard-fought victory in west London came after successive draws to Manchester United and Nottingham Forest and Slot believes the fortified defensive set-up of opponents has made it increasingly difficult for his side to score.

“What you do see is that at this moment in time it’s harder for us to convert our chances into goals,” Slot said.

“That’s not only up to us, that’s also because teams throw themselves in front of every ball every time we get a chance.

“So many of the other teams try to prevent us from scoring because all of them are in a low block.”

Liverpool’s defense has been key to their success this season, conceding just 20 goals in 21 Premier League matches.

Slot credited the center-back partnership of Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk as a primary reason behind their success.

“Most of those moments were defended really well by Ibou and Virgil,” he added.

“They went in a one-v-one against them in a counter-attack but we pushed them wide really well, which helped Alisson to save those shots.

“I emphasized on that in the pre-match meeting, Bryan Mbeumo likes it on his left and scores a lot by going inside.

“Of course, one of the reasons we’re so high in the league table is because we have two and four very good center-backs.”

What you do see is that at this moment in time it’s harder for us to convert our chances into goals.”

Brentford, who mounted a comeback in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with champions Manchester City, failed to replicate that stellar performance on Saturday.