Arne Slot’s post‑match briefing after Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint‑Germain in the Champions League quarter‑finals offers a window into the Dutch manager’s perspective on why his side have struggled to finish matches this season. Throughout the conference he highlighted a series of recurring issues – a lack of clinical finishing, a spate of injuries to key signings, and what he perceives as an unfavorable pattern of refereeing decisions – and tried to contextualise these problems within the broader statistical picture of Liverpool’s campaign. First and foremost, Slot lamented the Reds’ inability to convert the chances they create. He pointed out that Liverpool produced an Expected Goals (xG) figure of 1.92 in the Anfield clash with PSG, yet failed to find the back of the net.
"Unfortunately, it’s one of the many examples of this season where we weren’t able to score from the many chances we had," he said. "Again, we were so far under‑performing in terms of xG and that is just an ongoing thing with us throughout the whole season." This sentiment is backed up by the data: in the Champions League, Liverpool entered the tie having scored 24 goals from an xG of 27.8, the largest negative differential among the eight teams still in contention. In the domestic league, however, the picture is less stark. Liverpool’s total goal tally sits only 0.65 goals below their xG, a shortfall that, while modest, still lags behind the over‑performance of clubs such as Arsenal (+7) and Manchester City (+5.45).
Moreover, nine other Premier League sides have a worse xG‑to‑goals gap, indicating that Liverpool’s conversion problem, though noticeable, is not unique. What does stand out, according to Slot, are the missed "big chances" – opportunities defined by Opta as clear‑cut, high‑quality chances that should, in theory, be converted at a high rate. Liverpool have missed 59 of 86 such openings in the league, a statistic that places them near the bottom of the table for big‑chance efficiency.
Only Aston Villa have a poorer conversion rate in this category. The shortfall is particularly acute for star players: Mohamed Salah failed to score from 11 of his 14 big chances, while Virgil van Dijk managed just one goal from eight clear‑cut opportunities.
Even younger talents such as Curtis Jones, Florian Wirtz and Alexis Mac Allister have under‑performed relative to their individual xG expectations. Slot also addressed the impact of injuries on the squad’s attacking potential.
Alexander Isak, signed for a reported £125 million from Newcastle, was expected to be a prolific goal scorer, but a broken leg in December kept him sidelined for months. The Tuesday match marked his first start after recovery, and he was unable to make a decisive impact. The original plan for the season involved a potent £320 million attacking trio of Isak, Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike, but injuries have repeatedly disrupted that vision.
Ekitike himself suffered a worrying injury in the PSG game, limiting his minutes and further reducing the manager’s ability to field his three marquee forwards together. Slot admitted, "For 88 minutes [before Tuesday] we have played with Florian, Alex and Hugo.
We added about 27 to that [on Tuesday] and I would be surprised if we add more minutes to that this season." He added that losing a player to injury is a recurring theme, noting that the club has also missed Alisson (hamstring), Conor Bradley (knee surgery), Giovanni Leoni (ACL), Jeremie Frimpong, Wataru Endo and Joe Gomez for extended periods. Beyond the on‑field shortcomings, Slot expressed frustration with officiating decisions that he feels have disadvantaged Liverpool. A key moment in the second leg was the VAR overturning of a penalty awarded to Mac Allister, a decision Slot described as "another intervention of the VAR which was not in our favour and that is not for the first time this season." He cited similar incidents: a Brentford penalty awarded after a VAR check when Van Dijk fouled Dango Ouattara, and a Leeds penalty following a VAR review of a Konate challenge on Wilfried Gnonto.
Slot’s broader point was that Liverpool have been on the receiving end of several contentious calls, including a Van Dijk header ruled out for offside against Manchester City and a Manchester United goal that resulted from a Mac Allister collision while he was down with a head injury. While he acknowledged a few fortunate moments – such as a PSG penalty being overturned in the first leg and a missed push on Nuno Mendes – the overall narrative is one of perceived bias that has added to the club’s woes. The culmination of these issues was Liverpool’s exit from Europe, leaving them on course for a trophy‑less season after the league triumph of the previous year.
The fallout raises questions about the manager’s future, with pundits like Tim Sherwood warning that Slot must secure a top‑five Premier League finish to guarantee Champions League qualification and, by extension, his own job security. Despite the pressure, Slot remains cautiously optimistic. He highlighted the youth and potential within the squad – players such as Ryan Gravenberch (23), Hugo Ekitike (23), Florian Wirtz (22), Conor Bradley (22) and Milos Kerkez (22) are entering their prime, while 17‑year‑old Rio Ngumoha is already attracting attention for his promise.
Slot’s final message was one of belief in the club’s trajectory. "The future looks very bright for this team, because we've shown that we can compete with the champions of Europe in our stadium, to be the dominant team," he said, emphasizing that the experience gained this season, even in defeat, could serve as a foundation for future success. The next six league fixtures will be decisive; Liverpool must convert their chances, stay healthy, and perhaps benefit from a more favourable refereeing environment if they hope to finish the campaign strongly and return to Europe next year.