Liverpool suffered a 3-2 loss against Fulham as they suffered a setback in the pursuit of the Premier League title.

Arne Slot has defended his decision not to make more changes to his Liverpool team in the loss against Fulham.

The Reds suffered their maiden defeat on their travels in the Premier League this season. They fell to a 3-2 reverse at Craven Cottage, with defensive errors their downfall. After Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring, the visitors conceded three goals with 14 first-half minutes.

It was the third loss in four games in all competitions for Liverpool, while they edged a 1-0 win over Everton earlier in the week. The Reds’ performance levels have dropped as they come towards the end of a long and arduous season. Slot’s side still sit 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League but they are starting to stutter to the silverware.

Slot made only one switch to his starting line-up against Fulham, with Cody Gakpo replacing Luis Diaz. The substitutes made the difference in the second period, with Diaz reducing the arrears, Conor Bradley impressing on his return from injury and Harvey Elliott striking the crossbar with a chance to equalise.

Arne Slot explains why he didn’t rotate his Liverpool team

Asked at his post-match press conference if he regrets not freshening his team up, Slot replied: “Not because of that reason, because there were four days in between and we’ve shown many times this season that that’s not a problem at all for us. These players as well.

“I don’t think the errors we’ve made have anything to do with players being tired. And again, I know how it works, it’s everywhere the same in football: if you concede three goals in the first half, everybody is like: ‘Wow, that was a disaster’.

“Now, if you look back on it, knowing that you concede three, you will probably see a few good moments as well, because there were also good moments from us in buildup. I think on the half-hour I looked and it was 1-1, I was like ‘OK, it’s not our best game, but we have control over the game’. But then all of a sudden I blinked my eyes and we were 3-1 down.”

Troy Deeney agrees

Slot’s decision not to tweak things has been a talking point among fans. Elliott, Wataru Endo and Federico Chiesa have all not started a league match between them during the charge towards the silverware.

However, Troy Deeney believes that Liverpool’s position is justification to Slot’s thinking and he was criticised for doing so when the Reds suffered a shock 2-1 loss to Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup.

Former Watford captain Deeney said on Match of the Day 2: “I think he probably could have but when he rotated in the FA Cup, they lost and everyone hammered him for losing. So he is going to sit there and say I play the best team I can, we're 11 points clear, leave me alone.

“He's not afraid to make changes. The changes came on 55 minutes and 67 minutes and five minutes after the last set of chances the goal comes. Bradley [is] more natural, goes inside, having (Mo) Salah here wide makes Calvin Bassey come flying out. He wants to block the shot but knows he has to double up. It’s a lovely little ball from Bradley into Diaz, who takes a quick first touch, the keeper can't get set or the defender can’t get to him.

“Harvey Elliott was waiting for something to happen. It was so unlucky. The technique was beautiful, he just fires it to the far post. If he finds the top corner, they feel like they're on a roll and can win. They even brought Chiesa on - I think he's had about 45 minutes all season so I thought they'd give him a bit longer! He got in the mix and got a good shot off but another save from Bernd Leno.”