Monday’s briefing: Palace seal another Wembley win as they await European ruling

FA Cup winners Crystal Palace claimed a second major scalp at Wembley in less than three months after beating Liverpool in the Community Shield.

It was a result which posed a significant question for Reds head coach Arne Slot.

Slot makes a case for defence

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot accepts his team must tighten up defensively if they are to stand a chance of retaining their Premier League title.

Despite twice taking the lead in the Community Shield, sloppy defending through the middle allowed Crystal Palace to equalise twice leading to penalties, where the Eagles won 3-2.

Questions have already been raised over whether Slot needs to bring in another centre-back – they have been linked with Palace’s Marc Guehi, who is in the final year of his contract – as the sale of Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen has left him with just three in that position.

Liverpool have not kept a clean sheet in pre-season, conceding 10 times in five senior games – including four against AC Milan – and Slot knows that needs attention.

“I think we are able to create more now but we are conceding more at the moment and if you want to compete to win the league, one of the things is not to concede chances, let alone goals,” he told TNT Sports.

Slot plays down interruption of Jota tribute

Slot played down the interruption of the minute’s silence in memory of Diogo Jota by Palace fans at Wembley.

Tributes were paid to the Portugal international, who died in a car crash with his brother Andre Silva last month, and they were honoured with wreaths laid on the pitch before kick-off.

A minority of Eagles fans broke the minute’s silence, eliciting a strong response at the other end of the pitch, as well as from other Eagles supporters who tried to