Arne Slot has come to the defence of Ibrahima Konate after the France international received criticism for his recent performances.

Following a strong start to the season, Liverpool were defeated by Crystal Palace in the Premier League before Galatasaray also inflicted a loss on the Reds in the Champions League.

Konate’s performances were highlighted by many during the two games, with the defender often caught out by the opposition’s attackers.

However, Slot believes the whole Liverpool team have been off their usual game, and not just Konate.

“If you are losing a game of football, then it doesn't help if you lose the ball too many times, too easily. He's [Konate] been one of them, but he's definitely not the only one,” said Slot.

“If you then lose a game of football there is so much focus on that one moment, that suddenly your 90 minutes have been very, very poor. That's just not the way I analyse the game.

“In the last two games, it's been obvious and clear that we've made a few errors, not just him [Konate] but others, that we're not used to.”

Liverpool face a trip to Chelsea in their final match before the October international break, with Arsenal just two points behind the league leaders.

The Reds are winless in their last four Premier League games at Stamford Bridge (D3 L1) and could lose away to Chelsea in two straight seasons in the Premier League for the first time since losing three on the bounce from 2004-05 to 2006-07.

Alexander Isak, who has just one Liverpool goal to his name so far, will be hoping to make an impact against Chelsea after a disappointing display against Palace.

“I said to him when he started, the difficult thing will be you will have the appearances, but if you add the minutes together he will only have two or three appearances,” Slot added.

“That's a situation we had from him, not training at Newcastle. But he still has a goal.

“The main thing is him adjusting to his new team-mates and his new team-mates adjusting to him.”