LONDON – Liverpool manager Arne Slot knows his side have no time to lick their wounds after back-to-back defeats, as they prepare for their Premier League trip to Chelsea on Oct 4.

The stakes are high. Second-place Arsenal can climb to the top of the table ahead of kick-off at Stamford Bridge should they beat struggling West Ham United.

Liverpool, meanwhile, are heading into their match on the back of a 1-0 Champions League defeat by Galatasaray and a 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace.

“I saw a team that wanted to try everything to get a result,” Slot insisted on Oct 3 as he reflected on the midweek loss.

“Different to the Palace game, we won much more second balls and were like in the Palace game close to a result. Last season margins were so small and that’s the same this season again.

“We are trying to find a way that isn’t about luck or set-pieces or something... I’m happy with the amount of chances we are creating from them but we need to score more. We need to do better.”

A week ago all seemed to be going to plan for defending champions Liverpool, who boasted a perfect record of seven wins from as many games in the Premier League, Champions League and League Cup.

However, many of those victories were earned with last-gasp goals, papering over the cracks as Slot sought to find the right balance in a squad transformed during the transfer window.

The Reds splashed out nearly £450 million on new talent but also lost a number of key players including Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz to fund those moves.

The bulk of the spending went on Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, but neither of the £100-million-plus signings has yet scored for the Reds in the Premier League.

The remodelling of the Liverpool attack has also reduced the impact of Mohamed Salah, who started Tuesday’s defeat to Galatasaray on the bench.

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