Liverpool love late drama. Can Slot fix their slow starts?

Nobody does late drama better than Liverpool. That was club legend Jamie Carragher’s assertion after midfielder Alexis Mac Allister struck in the 97th minute to clinch a precious 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon.

The Argentina international’s stoppage-time heroics at the City Ground provided the latest dramatic installment in a Liverpool campaign characterized by last-gasp winners. It is a quirk that has inflicted both joy and misery on head coach Arne Slot’s side this term as its title defense has veered alarmingly off course.

Seven of Liverpool’s 27 league games in 2025-26 have featured a winning goal after the 90th minute, the most by any side in a single season in the competition’s history. Four of those goals have come against Slot’s men, showing how much jeopardy lies in regularly playing out such close encounters — particularly in a season where confidence has often been brittle and the absence of game-changing substitutes has been glaring.

“My emotions were emotions of happiness and relief,” Slot said after Sunday’s game. “Today we did not play a good game. The performance, especially in the first half, was not as we’ve had so many times this season. But we’ve been on the wrong side of the score after a good performance far too many times. Today, I think we got more than we deserved. A draw would have been a fairer result of this game than for us to win it.”

It was a measured assessment from the Dutchman, who has all too often watched his team fall foul of fine margins this season. With UEFA Champions League qualification at stake, Liverpool need to find a way to exert authority and limit the need for a late rescue act. But why do so many of their games feature late goals? And what can Slot do about it?

‘Mentality monsters’ get taste of own medicine

Liverpool’s propensity for winning games late is nothing new. The club’s tally of 48 winning goals scored in the 90th minute or later in the Premier League is at least 12 more than any other team in the division.

That never-say-die spirit was a key hallmark of the Jürgen Klopp era, with the German famously branding his team “mentality monsters” after a late comeback win over Southampton in April 2019. The tag stuck. It seemed to capture the resilience of a club and, on a wider level, a city that has so often seized the opportunity to rise from moments of adversity.

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That intangible quality has underpinned much of Liverpool’s domestic and European success, with captain Virgil van Dijk insisting Sunday that it was the team’s tenacious mindset that helped get them over the line against Forest, particularly after Mac Allister saw a goal chalked off for handball in the 90th minute.

“I fully agree [that we showed strong mentality] because when the goal is disallowed, the momentum shifts and the [Forest] fans are fully behind it,” Van Dijk said. “They may believe this is the opportunity to bounce back after a little bit of disappointment they had.

“But I think we did well; we created the chaos with the throw-ins we had and we managed to score the winner. I think our resilience has definitely been questioned at times this season, but I think today and the last couple of games especially, we have shown a consistency in everything we do.”

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Slot: Liverpool ‘got more than we deserved’ in Forest win

Arne Slot believes Liverpool received some luck during their 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest courtesy of Alexis Mac Allister’s 97th-minute strike.

While Liverpool’s powers of perseverance are admirable, their inability to control games means they have also been on the receiving end of many a late sucker punch. Earlier this month, Manchester City came from behind to snatch a 2-1 victory over their Anfield hosts, with Erling Haaland netting the winner from the penalty spot in the 93rd minute.

Liverpool’s tally of four stoppage-time winners conceded is the joint-most of any team in a single Premier League campaign, after Watford in 2017-18 and 2021-22, West Ham United in 2021-22 and Southampton in 2024-25. The Reds have also conceded injury-time goals away at Leeds United and Fulham, causing potential morale-boosting victories to wither into costly draws. The eight points they have dropped in stoppage time this season is the most by any team in the league, altering the complexion of Liverpool’s season.

Slot admitted after the defeat to City that it is impossible to attribute his team’s late collapses to one particular variable. “It’s every time a different goal, of course,” he said. “I have said many times, the next step for us is not to rely or depend on that pass or another decision. We are getting there. If you compare this to three or four months ago, you see so much improvement, but the issue is you don’t see this improvement in the league table and that is always the most important reflection of where you are.”

Even as Liverpool romped to the title last term, they were often made to work for their points. Only seven of their final 20 league games in 2024-25 were won by a margin of two or more goals, while only two outings yielded a victory by at least a three-goal swing. An internal desire to begin winning games more comfortably was one of the factors that compelled Liverpool to embark on a record spending spree of close to £450 million last summer, though that hefty investment has not yet had the desired effect.

While the feeling inside Anfield is that the club’s most recent signings can help power them to long-term success, serious injuries to Alexander Isak, Jeremie Frimpong and Giovanni Leoni have limited their impact this season, and star midfielder Florian Wirtz has taken time to adapt to the rigors of the Premier League.

Lack of options — and goals — hurt slow-starting Liverpool

Arguably Liverpool’s biggest defect this season has been their proclivity for starting games slowly. They have scored just 13 first-half goals in the league, with their current average of 0.48 first-half goals ranking as their second-worst tally in the Premier League era and the third worst in the club’s entire history.

Only seven teams have scored fewer goals than Liverpool in the opening 45 minutes of games. Five of those teams reside in the bottom half of the table. Slot’s side has also managed just three goals inside the first half-hour of league matches this season, with two of those coming in the same match (the 2-1 win over Merseyside rivals Everton in September).

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Those figures stand in stark contrast to Liverpool’s second-half performances. Only league leaders Arsenal have netted more goals than the Reds after the break. But on several occasions in recent months, Liverpool have left themselves with too much to do, particularly considering the lack of game-changing players on the bench.

At Forest, an injury to Wirtz in the warmup weakened an already depleted bench, with Curtis Jones called in to replace him in the middle of the park. That Liverpool’s most impactful substitute was 17-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha, who impressed after his late introduction at the City Ground, reflects the paucity of Slot’s present options.

That lack of depth has often led to the Reds fading in the closing stages of games, leaving them vulnerable to a late onslaught from their opponents. The Premier League’s increasing focus on set pieces has also been damaging late in games, though Liverpool’s fortunes in that department have started to change since the turn of the year.

In the first 26 matches of the season in all competitions, Liverpool conceded from 13 set pieces and scored from eight, prompting the departure of set-piece coach Aaron Briggs in December. Though Slot recently insisted Briggs is not to blame, the fact that they have conceded from two and scored from eight in the 13 games since his departure has undeniably contributed to the club’s recent upturn in form.

It is also worth noting that, while late goals have been abundant this season, Liverpool’s overall goal tally is down compared with previous years. In fact, the Reds’ current haul of 42 league goals is their lowest at this stage of a campaign since 2015-16.

Mohamed Salah, Liverpool’s top scorer in eight of the past nine seasons, has not scored in the top flight since Nov. 1 and has failed to score in nine league matches for the first time in his career. On the other flank, Cody Gakpo has scored only two goals for the club since Oct. 25, a run stretching 17 games.

With goals in such short supply, it is perhaps little wonder that so many of Liverpool’s games are hanging in the balance in the closing stages.

No easy solutions for Slot

For Slot, it is clear there is no quick fix for his team’s late-goal conundrum. The anticipated return of key personnel in the coming weeks will help, with both Wirtz and Frimpong expected to be available for selection against West Ham next weekend and Isak on course to rejoin team training next month.

Isak surpassed the 20-goal mark in each of his past two seasons for previous club Newcastle United and could help to provide Liverpool with the extra firepower they need to take games away from their opponents. His return would help to lighten the load on Hugo Ekitike, who is the club’s top scorer with 15 goals in all competitions.

Starting games with more intent — particularly at Anfield — could also arrest Liverpool’s continued reliance on late goals, while unleashing the prodigious Ngumoha earlier in games could add another dimension to the Reds’ attack. Ultimately, though, another summer of major surgery might be required before Slot’s squad is fully equipped to excel for a full 90 minutes.

Recruiting pace out wide should be a priority for the Anfield hierarchy, while Liverpool would also benefit from a more robust profile in midfield. But until the transfer window opens, the Reds can continue to expect more late drama.

For the neutral, at least, they remain the Premier League’s most absorbing competitor.