Arne Slot suggests £34m Liverpool star was to blame for Crystal Palace’s last-gasp winner

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Arne Slot has seemingly pointed the finger at one Liverpool player after Crystal Palace scored a 95th-minute winner at Selhurst Park.

The Reds suffered their first defeat across all competitions in the 2025/26 campaign as Eddie Nketiah stepped up to snatch the three points for Palace at the death.

Federico Chiesa appeared to have emerged as the hero once again following his 87th-minute equaliser, cancelling out Ismaila Sarr, who has been a nightmare for Liverpool when he opened the scoring after nine minutes.

There would be no stoppage time winner for the Reds, as already seen three times this season; instead, the champions were on the wrong end of a late winner.

However, Slot has pinpointed a lapse of judgement from one of his Liverpool stars as the moment that cost his side a vital point in South London.

Mohamed Salah was too focused on attacking Crystal Palace

Speaking in his post-match press conference after the defeat, Slot admitted that one of his players was too focused on launching a counter-attack from the throw-in that led to the goal rather than helping his teammates defend.

“One of our players decided to run out because he wanted to play a counter-attack, which was of no use because time was up, so it was only about defending. Maybe we were too offensively minded. Not we, one player, was too offensively minded in that moment, which led to them scoring the winner, us losing the game.”

Mohamed Salah was the only Liverpool player not in his penalty area when Nketiah scored the goal that ended the Reds’ unbeaten record.

The Egyptian has been dubbed “terrible” for his displays this season despite recording three goals and three assists in his opening six matches before the clash at Selhurst Park, but according to Slot, he has cost Liverpool a share of the spoils.

It was hardly a worthwhile performance from the Premier League champions, with many starters failing to cope with the opposition on the day, particularly Ibrahima Konate, who angered the Liverpool fans after another underwhelming display.

Although Sarr’s opening goal sparked controversy, Palace dominated the majority of the contest, with only Alisson standing between the hosts running rampant against the Reds.

Milos Kerkez is becoming a serious problem for Liverpool

Less than a fortnight after Milos Kerkez was removed during the first half at Turf Moor, the full-back continues to cause problems for Liverpool.

While Slot is seemingly attributing the blame to Salah, Palace would not have had the throw-in to begin with, had the Hungarian competently dealt with the danger.

The ball was heading towards the 21-year-old, who had no pressure from the opposition, and instead of meeting the trajectory with his right foot, he turned and cleared the ball with his left towards the sideline.

Slot will undoubtedly be forced to rethink his strongest line-up moving forward after the defeat, but if there is one thing that is certain, he cannot continue starting Kerkez over Andy Robertson.