Liverpool's Slot stays calm as Wembley woe completes tough week

LONDON : It has taken Liverpool manager Arne Slot eight months to lose two games in a row and the Dutchman was in no mood to let Sunday's League Cup final defeat by Newcastle United turn a blip into a full-blown crisis.

The 2-1 loss at Wembley compounded a difficult week for Slot's Liverpool, who exited the Champions League in the last 16 to Paris St Germain in a crushing penalty shootout defeat on Tuesday.

Yet while two shots at silverware had evaporated in the space of six days, a healthy 12-point lead atop the Premier League ensured Slot was not in panic mode.

"We are here, one of the biggest clubs in the world, Liverpool, but it's not for the first time in their history or in the last two seasons that they've lost two games. This is part of playing football," he told reporters at Wembley.

"It was a tough week, but it was also a week where we extended our (Premier League) lead to 12 points from maybe 10. So it wasn't all negative but, yeah, the last two were definitely not the way we wanted it to be."

Liverpool were flat from the first whistle at Wembley and the energy and pressing that had characterised their campaign so far was nowhere to be seen in contrast to Newcastle, who seemed to be feeding greedily off the intensity of their own fans.

Slot's side mustered little after goals from Dan Burn and Alexander Isak in each half gave Newcastle a comfortable advantage and Federico Chiesa's added-time effort was barely a consolation for the Merseysiders who had been second-best.

While the Liverpool manager was reluctant to admit his side were outplayed, he conceded they deserved to lose to Newcastle, who he said had succeeded in playing the game on their terms.

"I prefer to look at how the game went and this game went