'Negative' - Arne Slot claims Manchester United did something 'almost impossible' to beat Liverpool

Arne Slot finds it 'almost impossible' that his Liverpool side lost to Manchester United in the manner that they did over the weekend. Bryan Mbeumo and Harry Maguire scored either side of Cody Gakpo to record United's first win at Anfield in almost a decade and back-to-back league wins under Ruben Amorim for the first time.

Liverpool wasted a host of opportunities to get back into the match, as Gakpo hit the bar three times, Alexander Isak saw an effort saved by Senne Lammens and Mohamed Salah fired wide at the back-post. Gakpo also had a glorious chance to level the tie late on when he somehow headed wide from only a few yards out.

The home side dominated possession with 63.5%, while they also managed more shots on target and more corners. However, United won in the only stat that mattered, with two goals scored compared with one. It meant it was the same old story for Liverpool, who have now lost four consecutive matches across all competitions.

Slot: 'Almost impossible' to win with fewer set-pieces

Manchester United found their winner from the second phase of a set-piece when Harry Maguire headed in at the back-post after the initial corner kick was cleared. It was another painful moment for Liverpool manager Arne Slot, who thought the fact his side had more set-pieces throughout the match would give them a better chance to win the game.

Asked what went wrong for his side on Sunday afternoon, Slot even claimed it was 'almost impossible' for United to win the match due to their inferior number of set-pieces. "The result. And the fact that we went 1-0 down so early," Slot said. "If you play United, with so many quality players they have - [and] brought in a few new ones this summer - and if they come to us in a low block, playing so many long balls, then the last thing you would want is going 1-0 down. Because that gives them even more belief.

"If you would have told me we are 1-0 down against a United team that played in the style they did, and you would have told me that we would create eight, nine, 10 open chances, then I would have said to you that I don't think that is possible. But it was possible.

"So, the second thing that went wrong is that from all the chances we got, we only scored one goal. I have said it in Holland many times and maybe I've said it here as well, it's almost impossible to win a big game of football - and Liverpool v United is a big game with so many quality players on the pitch - to win it with a negative set-piece balance. We conceded another one and that led to us losing the game."

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