Premier League champions lose on penalties at Wembley
Crystal Palace await Europa League verdict after victory
After his Liverpool team lost the Community Shield in a penalty shootout to Crystal Palace, their manager, Arne Slot admitted the difficulty of bedding in the summer’s new signings.
“Sometimes you need some time to adapt offensively or defensively,” said Slot. Two new arrivals in striker Hugo Ekitiké and right-back Jeremie Frimpong got on the scoresheet but Palace, who might have won the game in normal time during their impressive second-half showing, exposed the Premier League champions’ weaknesses.
Florian Wirtz in a No 10 role and Milos Kerkez as an overlapping left-back on the opposite side of Frimpong made for a highly attacking Liverpool lineup. “In the whole pre-season we saw we are able to create more opportunities, chances, we dominate maybe even more,” said Slot. “Now we are better in creating and getting promising situations than we were in the whole of last season but it is also true that we have conceded two against [Athletic Club] Bilbao and two again today.
