Liverpool were somewhat unlucky to lose against Crystal Palace in Sunday’s Community Shield after the lottery of a penalty shootout.

The Reds were not brilliant across the 90 minutes, but did more than enough to deserve at least a 2-2 draw.

Nevertheless, there were a few key issues for Arne Slot and the Liverpool coaching staff to work on ahead of Friday’s Premier League opener with Bournemouth.

Milos Kerkez struggled to get a grip on the left side of the defence, with Palace taking advantage of the space between the Hungarian and Virgil van Dijk.

Arne Slot highlights “main issue” Liverpool had against Crystal Palace	Virgil van Dijk hits out at Crystal Palace fans who spoiled minute's silence for Diogo Jota before Liverpool's Community Shield defeat by Crystal Palace at Wembley	Liverpool 2-2 Crystal Palace LIVE: Reds lose Community Shield after penalty shootout

There were also problems in midfield, where Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai should not start together again as a pair.

With all of this no doubt bubbling away in the back of his mind, Slot was asked to pinpoint the ‘main issue’ for Liverpool as they were beaten by Palace.

Photo by Alex Pantling – The FA/The FA via Getty Images

Although a defeat is a defeat, and it was Palace players celebrating on Sunday, not Liverpool, the game itself ended as a draw.

And, according to Slot, the key problem for his team at Wembley was not the defensive frailty or midfield flimsiness, it was simply that his players did not convert their spot-kicks.

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“The main issue, I don’t think there was a main issue unless if the other team misses two penalties and you still lose within five penalties, that of course doesn’t help,” said the Liverpool head coach.

“But I think in general, it was a game where we twice came one goal up and, in my opinion, we controlled the game until the moment they scored the 2-2.

Then, all of a sudden, although we still had one big chance for Mo Salah, we could have lost it in the end as well.”

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“But until that moment, [at] 2-1, there was every reason for me to expect that we would win this game.

But after the 2-2 we were maybe lucky that we could go to penalties.”

Liverpool missed three of their five penalties, with Mohamed Salah’s effort, hit way over the bar, the worst of the lot.

Some may not agree with Slot, and would prefer he focused on some of the more glaring failures in the Liverpool team on the day, but in essence he is right.

Penalties undid Liverpool’s efforts in the Champions League against PSG in March, and they have done so again in the search for more silverware on Sunday.

There is certainly a conversation to be had over Salah’s status as the designated penalty taker.

The Egyptian has scored plenty over the years and will not give up his duties easily, but having also put a penalty over the bar during Monday’s friendly with Athletic Bilbao, he absolutely must score his next one.

Alexis Mac Allister is a candidate to take over, but also missed on Sunday, while Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai showed their credentials by scoring.

It is a toss-up over who wins a shootout on any given day, but when your penalties are as bad as Liverpool’s were, you are not helping yourself.