After Liverpool’s Champions League exit to Paris St‑Germain, Arne Slot offered several explanations — missed chances, a run of injuries and contentious VAR decisions. Each has merit, and together they sketch why a talented squad has struggled for consistent results.
Missed chances
Slot has repeatedly highlighted a lack of clinical finishing. At Anfield Liverpool generated 1.92 expected goals (xG) against PSG but failed to score. Across this Champions League campaign they have a notable underperformance: 24 goals from 27.8 xG, the biggest shortfall among the quarter‑finalists. The Premier League picture is less stark — Liverpool have scored 0.65 fewer goals than their season xG — and nine top‑flight teams have worse differentials. Still, the team’s poor record from high‑quality openings is worrying. Only Aston Villa have a worse conversion rate on Opta‑defined big chances in the Premier League, and Liverpool have missed 59 of 86 clear‑cut openings domestically.
Individual finishing issues are apparent too. Several players show sizable gaps between their goals and their xG figures, and key names have underdelivered from big opportunities. Mohamed Salah has missed 11 of 14 big chances, and Virgil van Dijk has converted just one of eight clear‑cut openings — misses that have had costly consequences in tight matches.
Injuries
Liverpool’s summer plan anticipated a new attacking core built around Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike after heavy spending on forwards. Injuries have repeatedly disrupted that vision. Isak suffered a broken leg in December and only recently made his first start back. Ekitike was stretchered off in the tie with PSG. Slot pointed out how little time the three have actually shared on the pitch, and warned minutes together are likely to be limited for the remainder of the season. He also noted how losing players has become a recurring problem.
The damage goes beyond the front line. Alisson missed time with a hamstring problem; Conor Bradley underwent knee surgery; Giovanni Leoni suffered an ACL injury that thinned centre‑back options; and Jeremie Frimpong, Wataru Endo and Joe Gomez have all endured long absences. The cumulative effect has constrained selection choices and disrupted continuity in both defence and attack.
VAR and refereeing complaints
Slot has been outspoken about refereeing patterns he sees going against Liverpool this season. In the second leg against PSG a penalty initially awarded to Alexis Mac Allister was overturned after a VAR review, and Slot framed it as another decision not in the team’s favour. He pointed to other examples from the season where VAR checks produced outcomes Liverpool felt disadvantaged them, such as a Brentford penalty awarded after review when Virgil van Dijk challenged Dango Ouattara, and a Leeds penalty given after a monitor review when Ibrahima Konaté was involved in a foul on Wilfried Gnonto.
Slot did acknowledge instances where the club also benefited from VAR this season — for example a PSG penalty was overturned in the first leg after Konaté’s challenge on Warren Zaire‑Emery — but his wider gripe is consistency. Liverpool have seen a Van Dijk header controversially ruled out at Manchester City and been on the wrong end of disputed stoppage‑time decisions in other matches. Observing the pattern, Slot said he was not surprised by yet another decision that went against them.
Looking ahead
Liverpool’s improved performance in the second leg against the European champions offered encouragement, but the exit leaves the season likely to end without a major trophy. That increases pressure on Slot to secure Champions League qualification through the Premier League; pundits have argued that failure to do so would jeopardise his position.
Yet Slot remains upbeat about the squad’s longer‑term prospects, noting the influx of young talent and academy graduates. Players such as Ryan Gravenberch (23), Ekitike (23), Florian Wirtz (22), Conor Bradley (22), Milos Kerkez (22) and the 17‑year‑old Rio Ngumoha provide a base for improvement. Slot emphasised that the team can compete with Europe’s best at Anfield and that the future looks bright if the youngsters are given time to develop.
The immediate challenge is pragmatic: Serie short‑term results. With six Premier League games to go, delivering the points needed for top‑flight qualification to the Champions League is the quickest way to stabilise the project and give the young squad the platform Slot envisions. Whether missed chances, injuries and perceived refereeing bias have cost Liverpool enough to derail that plan will be decided in the final weeks of the season.