Liverpool's Arne Slot suffers shocking personal worst in PSG defeat as Mo Salah snub explained

Arne Slot suffered a new personal worst as Liverpool head coach in Wednesday's 2-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain, as the Reds recorded their lowest match Expected Goals under the Dutchman so far.

The Premier League champions ventured to the Parc des Princes for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final buoyed by memories of last year's 1-0 success in the first leg of their last-16 battle.

However, Slot's men had experienced a dramatic downturn in fortunes since then, and they deservedly slumped to a third straight defeat across all tournaments in the French capital.

Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia struck either side of the half-time whistle to propel Les Parisiens to a comfortable first-leg triumph, as the holders put one foot firmly in the UCL semi-finals.

Slot matched an unwanted 14-year worst in Wednesday's defeat to PSG, and his Liverpool side also registered their worst-ever xG total under him to boot - a paltry 0.17.

Liverpool record worst-ever xG total under Arne Slot

The former Feyenoord boss made the bold and unexpected decision to go with a 3-5-2 system in Paris, dropping Mohamed Salah in favour of an extra defender in Jeremie Frimpong.

The Netherlands international and Milos Kerkez operated as wing-backs in Paris, where Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk lined up in a three-man wall ahead of stand-in goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.

However, Liverpool's damage limitation technique did little to quell the rampant threat of PSG, while Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz cut isolated figures in the final third.

Prior to Wednesday's loss, Liverpool's previous worst xG in one game was coincidentally in last year's trip to PSG, where the Reds won despite posting a mere 0.27 Expected Goals.

Arne Slot explains Mo Salah snub in PSG 2-0 Liverpool

Alexander Isak was brought off the bench for his first Liverpool appearance since breaking his leg in December, while Cody Gakpo was also brought on to no avail in the closing stages.

All the while, the departing Salah was left to observe the action from the bench, and Slot explained that he snubbed the Egyptian due to his preference to keep the scoreline at 2-0 rather than attempt a comeback.

"I think in the last part of the game, it was more about surviving for us than there was ever a chance that we could score," Slot said. "Yeah, you never know, because last season we scored five minutes before the end, Harvey Elliott [scored] when I took Mo off.

"But I think this was a 20, 25 minutes where we were only defending and Mo has so much quality, but for Mo to be 20, 25 minutes defending inside his own box, I think it’s better for him to save his energy for a lot of games that are coming up in the upcoming weeks."

Liverpool host PSG next Tuesday in the return leg, prior to which the Reds return to Premier League action at home to Fulham on Saturday evening.