Slot Admits Liverpool Have Lost Their Fear Factor After Sunderland Hold Champions

‎Liverpool coach, Arne Slot, admitted his side has lost its fear factor during a miserable spell, as Sunderland earned a 1-1 draw at Anfield on Wednesday.

‎The Premier League champions have now gone three straight home matches without a win, salvaging a point only thanks to a Nordi Mukiele own goal against the Black Cats.

‎Sunderland were on course for their first win at Anfield since 1983 when Chemsdine Talbi’s deflected strike opened the scoring.

‎Mukiele accidentally deflected Florian Wirtz’s shot into his own net, giving the hosts an equaliser.

‎Wilson Isidor then missed a golden opportunity to win the game when Federico Chiesa cleared his stoppage-time effort off the line. After starting the season with five straight league victories, Liverpool has managed only two wins in their last nine matches.

‎”Teams that play us now think they can get a result,” said Slot. “Not only think because that has been shown this season.

‎”Even the games we have won, we have fuelled the confidence for other teams that something is possible because the wins we had weren’t easy ones as well.”

‎Any hope that a corner had been turned in Sunday’s 2-0 victory at West Ham was quickly dispelled for Slot.

‎Mohamed Salah remained on the bench for a second straight match, while Wirtz and Alexander Isak again failed to justify their hefty £100 million-plus price tags. Salah was brought on at the start of the second half but could not make an impact against Sunderland’s well-organised defence.

‎”I knew before the game that Sunderland is a hard team to score against, a hard team to create chances against,” added Slot.

‎”A game where we didn’t concede a lot or create a lot and were really unlucky with the goal we conceded. It was a deflection and could have gone anywhere but in the period we are in, it went in.”