After taking the lead in the Community Shield thanks to goals from Ekiti and Frimpong, Liverpool conceded a goal in the second half and ultimately lost 2-3 to Crystal Palace on penalties, missing out on the title. Slaughter stated that his team must make some defensive adjustments to better prevent conceding goals.

Four minutes into the match, Ekitik scored from the edge of the box after receiving a cross from Wirtz, giving Liverpool a 1-0 lead. In the 15th minute, Ismaila Sarr was tripped by Van Dijk while dribbling past the defense, resulting in a penalty for Crystal Palace. Mateta then converted the penalty to tie the score at 1-1.

In the 21st minute, Soboslai's long pass was met by Frimpong who found the net with a lob into the box, giving Liverpool a 2-1 lead over Crystal Palace. In the 77th minute of the second half, Adam Walton secured possession and lobbed the ball to Ismaila Sarr, who volleyed past Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson to tie the score at 2-2.

As the two sides could not decide the winner in regular time, the game went into a penalty shootout. However, in the penalty shootout, Salah, McAllister and Elliott missed their penalties, and Liverpool eventually lost to Crystal Palace 2-3.

Liverpool manager Slaughter said, "Overall, this was a game in which we took the lead twice and we controlled the situation until they equalized again at 2-0. Since then, although Salah had a great chance, we almost lost in regular time. When we were leading 2-1, I had every reason to believe we would win the game. But after 2-2, we were lucky to enter the penalty shootout."

Improved threat creation

"Throughout pre-season, we've seen that the team is more comfortable with the ball, creating more chances and posing a greater threat in attack. Last season, although we had a lot of possession, we couldn't always turn it into threatening situations. Now, compared to last season, our ability to create threatening situations has improved significantly."

Sloter continued, "We did concede a lot of goals in friendly matches, conceding 4 goals against AC Milan, 1 goal against Yokohama F. Marinos, 2 goals against Bilbao, and 2 goals in this game. We were strong last season because most of our victories were by one goal, thanks to keeping a clean sheet or conceding only one goal at most. But it is a positive sign that we were able to score two goals against Crystal Palace. We didn't do it once last season. The results of the encounter were 1-0 and 1-1 at Anfield."

When talking about finding a balance between creating opportunities and defending, Sloter said, "We replaced four players, and sometimes it takes time to adapt to the offensive and defensive system. For example, when we played against Bilbao, we hardly gave the opponent any chances. The two goals we lost were set pieces. This is also part of the game."

"I don't think Crystal Palace created many chances, but their first big chance was a penalty. The equalizer in the 78th minute was their second great chance of the game. Overall, the opponent retreated to a low block, we had a lot of possession, and they didn't have many chances, but we still conceded two goals. We need to make some adjustments in defense next, because although we didn't have many chances, we did concede two goals."

In addition, Sloter also said, "Goals are of course a good thing, not only for Ekitik but also for Frimpong, especially when a player starts a new career at a new club, but winning is more important than scoring. He performed well, but he joined at the end of the Asian tour and only had one or two weeks to participate in training."

"Given that we have another game coming up, it would not be wise to let him play the full 90 minutes. We still have Chiesa, but he is not on the Asian tour, so the substitute options are limited. If he gets injured now, it will affect the games against Bournemouth, Newcastle and Arsenal, which is why I substituted him."