LIVERPOOL, England — Arne Slot said he “completely understands” the frustration of Liverpool fans who booed the team after Saturday's 1-1 draw with Burnley in the Premier League.
Florian Wirtz gave the hosts the lead at Anfield before Marcus Edwards equalized in the second half.
The result means Liverpool have failed to beat any of the league's three newly promoted teams at Anfield this season, with just one win in their last four league games. While they remain fourth in the table, they are now just one point above fifth-placed Manchester United.
“Yes, in my head it wasn't boos, but in my head there was also frustration,” Slot said when asked about the Anfield crowd's reaction.
“So if we're Liverpool and we're playing Burnley, who we have to give credit to for defending, clearing balls off the line, all the things you want to see if you're the Burnley manager, trying everything to stop us from scoring.
“But if you, like Liverpool, are not disappointed to have a draw at home against Burnley, then something is completely wrong. I completely understand the frustration. I have the same frustrations, and the players definitely have the same frustrations as the fans.”
Saturday's result was the third time Liverpool have dropped points from winning positions in the Premier League this season. It came despite Slot's team recording 32 shots on goal, including 11 on target, and a total expected goals (xG) of 2.95, the highest in the league this season.
Liverpool also had 73% of the possession against a Burnley side who were languishing in 19th position with just 14 points from 22 games.
Slot added: “It's not the first time, it's often frustrating. They come in different ways. Sometimes we score a goal in injury time and you hope to win the game and then you concede another goal in injury time.
“I think we have played a lot in these games. [nine in 19 from September to November] — where we're the team that creates more than the team we're facing — but then we were losing those games.
“Then we started to become a team that was a little more careful about conceding chances, and that made it harder to create a lot of things as well.
“As a result of that, we've been in a lot of games where we haven't lost, and I think today was a game where I liked seeing us have even more possession than we normally would, creating a lot of chances, and usually that comes when, if you take more risks, it comes with the other team's counterattack, but we controlled it very well.”
Data from ESPN Research was used in this report.
