Liverpool suffered their first defeat of the season at the weekend, with a late Eddie Nketiah goal lifting Crystal Palace to victory.
The Reds have conceded seven goals in six Premier League matches, which is five more than the team conceded in the first six games last season.
Arne Slot responded to criticism that his new full-backs, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, are the root of the problem, with the manager defending the signings and pointing to other reasons for defensive issues.
What did Slot say about his side's defensive record this season?
Slot brought in Frimpong and Kerkez to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, despite Robertson staying at Liverpool this season.
The two new backs have faced pressure, but Slot believes the problem lies within the team as a whole.
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Speaking before Liverpool's Champions League match against Galatasaray, Slot said, "One of our strengths last season was keeping the other team away from our goal, and normally that doesn’t start with your defenders. Look into more details – we’ve conceded four goals from set pieces this season.
"We’ve changed our full-backs – we’ve changed a bit more than our full-backs – but when I think about the goals we’ve conceded, the first thing that comes to mind is not that the full-backs are a problem.
"It’s always a team performance. Last season, we hardly conceded because 11 players worked incredibly hard to stop the other team having a chance. They are working incredibly hard this season, but set pieces are a game in themselves sometimes.
"We have to go back to that, and we have to prove in the upcoming games and months that we don’t normally concede from set pieces. It’s something we definitely have to improve. I see teams in the Premier League that win games by set pieces, and we lose games by set pieces."
Liverpool have conceded four set-piece goals in the league this season, with only West Ham conceding more in the first six matches.
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