Liverpool are being outrun by opponents too often but Arne Slot's problems run much deeper

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Echo or go back to LFC Live.

Liverpool have been regularly outrun in the Premier League this season - but their problems run far deeper, writes Paul GorstThe roars from the Kop were probably still echoing around Anfield on Wednesday night when Arne Slot looked to temper expectations.A 4-0 win over Galatasaray that bore all the hallmarks of a classic European night under the lights, secured the Reds' passage into the last eight of the Champions League but Slot, whether by design or mistake, then deflated a buoyant mood.Speaking after the win over the Turkish side last week, Slot said: "It's not as simple as you think to say: 'OK, if you can bring this tonight, you can bring this effort every single game you have.'"There's an opponent to play against, there's a style of play. There are so many factors that why we could bring tonight what we could bring."Unfortunately, for the fifth, sixth time now, I think that we only get two days' rest to go to Brighton, early kick-off.

We know where we are in the Premier League standings, and we know we have to push. Of course, it’s maybe a bit of an advantage (to Brighton), but still, very disappointed that we couldn’t win."Liverpool had just 62 hours between the final whistle against Galatasaray and kick-off at the Amex with Slot admitting in the embargoed section of Friday's press conference that he only had 15-20 minutes training time as a result.In the same week that saw him lose Mohamed Salah and Alisson Becker, that was not ideal and Hugo Ekitike's departure inside 10 minutes after a tangle with James Milner was fortunate that it was only a dead leg that won't sideline him further.But Liverpool were once more outrun in Saturday's defeat to Brighton and a popular statistic across social media over the weekend highlighted that the Reds have covered less ground than their opponents in 27 of the last 31 games.Against Tottenham earlier this month - a disappointing 1-1 draw with a side in dramatic free-fall - Spurs covered 118.27 km compared to their hosts' total of 109.6 km.

But with 10 defeats and a place in next season's Champions League far from certain as we head into the penultimate month of the campaign, covering less ground than the opposition on a weekly basis is another indictment of a squad who have had accusations of their fitness levels thrown at them all season. Forest, in contrast, played in Turkey on the Thursday evening, where they beat Fenerbahce 3-0, before hosting Slot's men in the 2pm kick-off on the following Sunday.Liverpool subsequently put in one of their worst first halves of the season at the City Ground despite being the much fresher team and eventually won the game against a relegation-threatened side via a 95th-minute effort from Alexis Mac Allister.There would have been a more sympathetic reaction to Saturday's defeat had it not been in-keeping with what this squad has served up since mid-September.Since the 2-1 triumph over Everton on September 20, the Reds have secured only nine wins, accumulating just 34 points from the last 78 available.