National media react to 'outworked' Liverpool's loss to Brighton and make 'haunted' Arne Slot point

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Here's what they made of it as the Reds suffered a blow to their Champions League hopes for next season.The Daily Mail's Lewis Steele writes: "Liverpool were left cursing as they followed a step forward with a mighty retreat backwards again. It was a mistake-laden opening period with a slow and lethargic tempo."That was the best way to describe Liverpool’s start as a couple of attempted passes went wildly wrong, one of them proving costly as stand-in goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili carelessly tossed away possession to concede a cheap throw-in."Brighton worked the resulting set-piece well with the move culminating in (Danny) Welbeck cupping his ear to the away end, or maybe England boss Thomas Tuchel just 24 hours on from being snubbed for the Three Lions squad."The header made it the 35-year-old’s best-ever goal-scoring campaign in the Premier League with seven games to spare after Diego Gomez headed back across goal.

An efficient move but highly preventable with Liverpool guilty of several counts of statuesque defending."Over on the pages of The Guardian, Sam Cunningham writes: "Arne Slot said the defeat started in 'the lead-up to this game' with injuries straight after a strong performance."'As has happened so many times this season, after we’ve played a good game, we couldn’t bring that level again,' the Liverpool head coach said. 'That has happened so many times to us this season.'"The manner of Brighton’s goals summed up Liverpool’s problems: disjointed, out of sync, error-strewn. When Yankuba Minteh crossed, nobody tracked Jack Hinshelwood at the back post and – once again – Welbeck was left completely free to turn the ball in."The Independent's Jamie Braidwood writes: "The Reds have lost five games of their 10 games immediately after playing in Europe this season, winning four and drawing one, as they failed to back up Wednesday’s big win over Galatasaray to reach the quarter-finals."Already without Mohamed Salah and goalkeeper Alisson to injuries, Liverpool lost Hugo Ekitike to a dead leg following a heavy collision with James Milner in the opening five minutes and they were outworked by an energetic Brighton team who were fully deserving of their fourth win in five games."Liverpool also risk slipping from the Premier League’s top five after a run of three games without a win.

While the impressive nature of Liverpool’s win over Galatasaray had lifted the mood following the defeat at bottom club Wolves and 1-1 draw with struggling Tottenham, there is pressure on Slot again ahead of a crucial stretch of the season."On The Times, Hamza Khalique-Loonat reflects: "Any player that can sink the champions is surely a valuable one (to England's World Cup squad). That one tactic, according to coaches like Arne Slot, is responsible for the defensive football this season."The champions have been woefully inconsistent this season, which owes in part to a raft of injuries, which includes Mohamed Salah, Alisson Becker, Alexander Isak, and now Hugo Ekitike — Liverpool’s top scorer this season — who sustained an injury in the opening minutes after contact with James Milner and was in visible pain as he trudged off the field."And the ECHO's verdict reads: "One of the many problems Arne Slot has is that when you are head coach of a club the size of Liverpool, explanations can quickly start to sound like excuses."Slot may point to a turnaround time of around 60 hours between Wednesday night's visit from Galatasaray and this lunchtime kick-off, over 200 miles from Anfield.