Arne Slot admitted Liverpool F.C. must address their damaging habit of conceding late goals if they are to salvage a troubled season, after Tuesday’s humiliating 2-1 defeat at bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C..

Slot’s side looked set to escape Molineux with a point after Mohamed Salah cancelled out Rodrigo Gomes’ 78th-minute opener. But Liverpool’s recurring Achilles heel surfaced once more in stoppage time, as André’s strike took a heavy deflection off Joe Gomez and looped beyond the wrong-footed Alisson Becker.

It marked the fifth time this Premier League season that Liverpool have lost due to a goal conceded in the 90th minute or later — the most by any team in a single campaign in the competition’s history.

“We hardly conceded a chance, created not so much but more than they did, but the result is again a 2-1 loss,” said Slot, who oversaw a lavish £450 million recruitment drive before the season.

“We are losing far too many football games and dropping points. Was it again in extra time that we conceded? The three times we lost in the last 22 games were all in extra time.”

The defeat — Liverpool’s first in five matches in all competitions — leaves them vulnerable in the race for Champions League qualification, with rivals poised to capitalise. Far from mounting a convincing defence of their title, the reigning champions now sit fifth after another chastening setback.

Slot acknowledged his side were out of rhythm for much of the contest.

“Bad result, far from good first half, better second half. Second half, there was a bit more urgency, getting closer to scoring a goal, then conceding with the first moment they arrived around our box,” he said.

“We immediately struck back, first off the post, then with Mo, then we were twice close to making a winner. In the end, we conceded a deflected shot, which was not even a chance.”

Liverpool are the first reigning champions to lose to the Premier League’s bottom club since 2017, underlining the scale of their struggles. Once the toast of Anfield, Slot has endured a season of inconsistent displays, with performances often lacking the fluency and intensity supporters have come to expect.

The Reds have an immediate opportunity for redemption when they return to the West Midlands to face Wolves in the FA Cup fifth round on Friday.

“Yeah, which is a good thing and a nice thing because we have something to prove on Friday,” Slot said.

Captain Virgil van Dijk did not shy away from responsibility, admitting the players must shoulder the blame. The defender was caught out in the build-up to Wolves’ opener and later squandered a clear chance to put Liverpool ahead before the decisive late goal.

“I think it’s down to ourselves. It was slow, we were predictable, sloppy in possession and wrong decision-making,” Van Dijk said.

“We didn’t concede chances, but if you perform like that, then a result like this can be a result of that and that’s a fact. It was disappointing.”