Arne Slot: ‘Struggled to control their intensity, pace, quality’

A dejected Mohamed Salah after Liverpool’s loss to Aston Villa on Friday. Pic/Getty Images

Aston Villa secured Champions League football with a 4-2 win over Liverpool in the Engish Premier League on Friday - a result that leaves Arne Slot's men still at risk of missing out on Europe's elite competition next season.

Arne Slot

Morgan Rogers (41st min) opened the scoring for Villa, before Ollie Watkins (56th and 72nd min) struck twice and John McGinn (88th min) put the cherry on the cake after Dominik Szoboszlai's unfortunate slip at the edge of the box. Virgil van Dijk headed in twice to reduce the deficit for Liverpool, but manager Arne Slot was once again left to rue their sloppy defending.

"We've conceded far too many goals, and we haven't scored enough either. [After] 2-1 we crumbled. We struggled to control their pace, intensity and quality," said the frustrated Dutch manager. Liverpool slip to fifth in the table (59 points in 37 games) and remain just four points ahead of Bournemouth, who have two games remaining.