Slot points to exhaustion as Liverpool lose to Bournemouth

Liverpool manager Arne Slot attributed his teams initial loss in 14 matches to tiredness after Bournemouths Amine Adli scored almost at the final whistle to secure a 3-2 victory for the Cherries on Saturday.

Slot has brought stability to the team in the past few months following a poor stretch of nine losses in 12 fixtures earlier this season for the English title holders.

However the Reds have now gone five Premier League games without a win which significantly harms their chances of qualifying for the Champions League next term.

Unlike their league struggles Liverpool made strong progress in Europe by beating Marseille 3-0 on Wednesday to move closer to the Champions League knockout stages.

Slot however cited the short recovery time and limited squad depth from various injuries as reasons for his players losing energy late on.

The away side had recovered from a 2-0 deficit to draw level with 10 minutes remaining through strikes from Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai.

Bournemouth though squandered two clear opportunities to seal the match in the dying moments before Adlis goal in the 95th minute.

"They likely created more opportunities than we did in those last 10 minutes which does not surprise me given we played in Marseille just two days earlier.

"Over the previous four five six seven eight nine or 10 matches we have relied on the same group of players because of limited availability and occasionally some tire towards the end.

"That is evident in the closing stages today too."

Bournemouths second goal arrived when Liverpool were reduced to 10 players after Joe Gomez left the pitch injured leaving Slot short at the back.

Midfielder Wataru Endo stepped in at centre back with Ibrahima Konate away on compassionate grounds following his fathers passing and Giovanni Leoni sidelined for the campaign with a ruptured knee ligament.

Slot brought on Andy Robertson during the interval despite rumours linking the Scotland skipper to Tottenham before the transfer deadline.

Robertson has only six months remaining on his deal and is said to want more starting spots after dropping down the order behind Milos Kerkez at Anfield.

Slot emphasised however that he requires every available player at present.

"I require all my squad members" Slot added. "Robbo entered at half time as I recognised that Milos could not handle another full 90 against a high pressing Bournemouth team.

"We face many fixtures ahead and with the current roster I must handle minutes carefully since the last thing we want is further injuries."