Arne Slot reacts to surprise Liverpool defeat in pre-season friendly

Arne Slot was keen to focus on the positives of Liverpool falling to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Preston North End in a pre-season friendly.

Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai were among the players to start the game, played at Liverpool's AXA Training Centre, before a raft of changes were made at half-time to blood young academy prospects.

Robbie Brady's goal was enough to earn Preston the win but Slot was happy enough that his players had come through the exercise unscathed. The Dutchman was also pleased with some the control shown by Liverpool's players throughout the game, adapting to a new style of football from what they've become accustomed to learning under Jurgen Klopp and his coaching team.

“The most important thing is that everybody was fit before the game and they stayed fit during the game as well," Slot told Liverpool's official channels.

“So, it’s been a good two weeks. Unfortunately the result today was not what we wanted, but they stayed fit, many of them got minutes [and] also a lot of young players got a few minutes so that was a good thing.

“We controlled the game completely, we only conceded one shot. The bad thing about it was that that shot went in, [it was] a great goal, though. We had some good build-up moments, had some good chances in the first half as well.

“Second half, I didn’t think we created that much, which is normal because there were a lot of young players in the team who didn’t play in their own positions sometimes as well.

“So, we couldn’t have asked for more from the boys in the first two weeks – [they have] worked really hard, tried to implement ideas and it’s not that we only bring new ideas. There are a lot of things that have been done here that were really good.

“So, like I said, a bit unlucky to lose 1-0 if you only conceded one shot.”

Liverpool's preparations for the 2024/25 season now head to stateside, with the club embarking on a tour of the United States with a host of other Premier League clubs. Real Betis are the Reds' opponents on July 27, before clashes with Arsenal on August 1 and bitter rivals Manchester United on August 4.

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