Arne Slot has said Liverpool’s luck this season has been so bad it has even extended to new signing Jérémy Jacquet, who has suffered a shoulder injury ahead of his summer move to Anfield.

Liverpool agreed a £60 million ($82m) deal to sign Jacquet from Rennes on deadline day, however the centre-back may now require surgery on his shoulder after picking up an injury while playing for the French side at the weekend.

“It feels like that, that’s for sure,” Slot said when asked whether Liverpool have been unlucky this term.

“Even if we sign a player and he’s not even playing for us he gets injured. Sometimes it feels like that but the moment you start to feel it’s all bad luck, it probably comes to you as well so we should keep it away as much as possible and focus on the performance and what we can do to improve it.

“But the amount of times we conceded late goals in extra time is far more than usual. The question is is it bad luck or are we to blame?

“I’ve tried many different things. I’ve made defensive substitutions and the ball went in, I’ve kept playing the same players and the ball went in. We’ve tried a lot. I can fairly say we haven’t been lucky, that is definitely true.

“The question is are we unlucky or is it part of who we are? That is something we can only find out in the upcoming three to four months.”

Slot also admitted that this has been the toughest campaign of his career and acknowledged failing to secure Champions League football this season could impact Liverpool’s summer transfer business.

“If we don’t have Champions League football, it’s definitely not been an acceptable season,” he said.

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“When I arrived here and only signed Federico Chiesa, it was after a Europa League season. That does have an enormous impact on the way this club is run. I am completely aware of that.”

The Liverpool boss added: “Yeah, that’s fair to say [it’s been the hardest season of his career]. By a mile. Because all the other seasons I’ve managed, there were only positives. I don’t think I’ve ever lost two games in a row [before this season]. It’s an exception for me this season as it is for the players. The players are not used to losing a lot or having a lot of draws. I’m not used to that as well.”

The Blues missed a chance to move close to fourth-place United

Liam Rosenior’s side were on course for a fifth successive Premier League win before Leeds staged a late comeback to grab a draw. Photo: AFP

LONDON:

Liam Rosenior said Chelsea’s failure to stay calm under pressure was a “bitter pill” as they blew a two-goal advantage in their 2-2 draw with Leeds on Tuesday.
Rosenior’s side were on course for a fifth successive Premier League victory thanks to Joao Pedro’s opener and Cole Palmer’s penalty.
But Chelsea collapsed in the closing stages at Stamford Bridge, with Lukas Nmecha’s penalty giving Leeds a lifeline before Noah Okafor tapped in the equaliser.
The fifth-placed Blues’ collapse cost them the chance to move above Manchester United into fourth place, leaving Rosenior to rue their careless defending.
“Two key moments in the game that we don’t take care of. We don’t stay calm. How the play gets there, we make a few poor decisions in the way we press and we give away a penalty,” he said.
“I can’t remember Leeds having a shot or a moment in the game. Some of our football in possession, our press and our energy was everything I wanted to see.
“That makes it even more of a bitter pill to swallow that we haven’t won the game.”
Leeds’ equaliser owed as much to Jayden Bogle’s tenacity in outmuscling Chelsea’s defence as it did to the Blues’ own hesitancy in dealing with the danger, though Rosenior believed his team should have had a free-kick.
“The lad handballs it,” he said. “It affects my players in that moment. They think it’s a handball, they switch off, we don’t clear the ball and they score. Then for 25 minutes it was wave after wave of attack.”
Rosenior has made an encouraging start to his reign since arriving from Strasbourg to replace Enzo Maresca in January.
But alongside their League Cup semi-final exit to Arsenal, this was another sign that the former Hull boss still has much to work on.
“We have to make sure we take care of moments and be professional,” Rosenior said.
“It’s not about reacting to setbacks. You’re always going to have a spell in the game when you’re not on top.
“The ridiculous thing for us is that they’ve managed to score two goals in a five-minute period when for the other 90 minutes we were by far the better team.” 

India’s opening batter Abhishek Sharma has been hospitalised with a stomach infection, media reports said on Wednesday.

The development has put the availability of India’s main batter for Thursday’s T20 World Cup match against Namibia in doubt.

Sharma has been receiving treatment in a private Delhi hospital for the past two days.

“Abhishek has been admitted to a private hospital in Delhi due to a stomach infection. Some tests are being done to ascertain the problem.

It is still not clear whether he will be discharged today. But the match against Namibia looks doubtful as of now,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying.

Sharma, who was dismissed for a first-ball duck in India’s opening World Cup game against the USA, had previously been battling a stomach issue.

He did not field during the USA’s innings, with India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate confirming that Sharma was recovering from a stomach bug.

“Abhi still has got a few issues with his tummy. We are hopeful that he’ll be available for the game in two days’ time,” Doeschate said.

If Sharma is unavailable, India could opt to open with Sanju Samson, who had been replaced by Ishan Kishan as the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter following a string of low scores against New Zealand last month.

Ten Doeschate said the team is waiting for Abhi’s fitness more than anything.

On a positive note, Jasprit Bumrah is set to feature against Namibia after missing the opener due to illness.

He participated in India’s training session in Delhi on Tuesday, bowling at full intensity.

Allrounder Washington Sundar has also rejoined the squad after recovering from a side tear suffered during the series against New Zealand.

Sundar took part in batting and bowling practice, including throwdowns at the nets, ahead of Thursday’s clash.