Reds boss remains calm, as woeful week sees Slot machine stall

It has taken Liverpool manager Arne Slot eight months to lose two games in a row, and the Dutchman was in no mood to let Sunday's League Cup final defeat by Newcastle United turn a blip into a full-blown crisis.

The 2-1 loss at Wembley compounded a difficult week for Slot's Liverpool, who exited the Champions League in the last 16 to Paris St Germain in a crushing penalty shoot-out defeat on Tuesday.

Yet, while two shots at silverware have evaporated in the space of six days, a healthy 12-point lead atop the Premier League ensured Slot was not in panic mode.

"We are here, one of the biggest clubs in the world, Liverpool, but it's not for the first time in the club's history, or in the last two seasons, that they've lost two games. This is part of playing football," he told reporters at Wembley.

"It was a tough week, but it was also a week where we extended our (Premier League) lead to 12 points from maybe 10. So, it wasn't all negative but, yeah, the last two were definitely not the way we wanted it to be."

Liverpool was flat from the first whistle at Wembley, and the energy and pressing that had characterized its campaign so far was nowhere to be seen. That was in contrast to Newcastle, which seemed to be feeding greedily off the intensity of its own fans.

Slot's side mustered little after goals from Dan Burn and Alexander Isak in each half gave Newcastle a comfortable advantage, and Federico Chiesa's added-time effort was barely a consolation for the Merseysiders, who had been second-best.

While the Liverpool manager was reluctant to admit his side was outplayed, he conceded it deserved to lose to Newcastle, which he said had succeeded in playing the game on its own terms.

"I prefer to look at how the game went, and this game went exactly the way they wanted it to be," he said.

"A fight with a lot of duels, and a lot of duels in the air. And, if we play 10 games of football in the air against them, they win nine times, because they are a stronger team in the air than us."

A second straight Liverpool defeat in a matter of days has not only removed another chance of silverware, but has left it wobbling at the business end of the season, traditionally when great teams come into their own.

The loss will raise questions about the staying power of Liverpool's squad, after it suffered a blip at roughly the same stage last year.

That ensured former manager Jurgen Klopp finished his final season with only the League Cup to celebrate after it had led the Premier League heading into the spring and, at one stage, eyed a potential quadruple.

Slot's first campaign has brought lashings of praise for how well he has taken on Klopp's mantle, not just keeping Liverpool on the rails, but lifting it to the next level, polishing a promising collection of players to the point where it looks almost certain to be crowned English champion.

This week has taken some of the shine off his debut season, and he will be eager to snuff out talk of a wobble as quickly as possible with the league title within touching distance.

"It's part of football," he added. "If you face strong teams, you can lose as well, but, ideally, you go through the whole season only winning, winning, winning. But, yeah, it can happen that you also lose twice in a row."

Reuters