Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson has warned his team-mates they need to improve their performances after escaping with three points against Leicester City in their final game of 2022.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall gave the Foxes an early lead as Brendan Rodgers' side attempted to follow their December 2021 win with another late-year victory over last season's Premier League runners-up. Two Wout Faes own goals turned the game on its head, though, letting Liverpool take all three points and stay in touch with the top four.
Jurgen Klopp's side travel to Brentford on Monday with the chance to at least temporarily move within a single point of the Champions League spots. Another under-par performance is unlikely to do the job, though, with Alisson laying bare what the Reds need to do.
"We cannot rely on excuses," the Brazil goalkeeper said. "It was only the second [league] game we have played after the World Cup.
"The players who had time [off], used that to prepare themselves. The ones who went to the World Cup, they could train and then rest to prepare for this moment.
"Speaking about myself and the players who went to the World Cup, we focused there on the games, but after we finished I was straight with my mind here focused on the next things that we have in front of us."
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Next up for Liverpool is a trip to Brentford on Monday. The Bees have kept up their form after beating Manchester City before the international break, drawing with Tottenham on Boxing Day before winning at West Ham on December 30.
"It's going to be a really important moment of the season now and we have to focus," Alisson added of Liverpool's task. "We have to do better. Sometimes it's just a matter of mentality. It's not that easy to change it but we can do that for sure."
Liverpool go into the game sitting four points behind Manchester United in fourth, after Erik ten Hag's team made it two wins from two since the break by beating Wolves at Molineux. There is a chance new signing Cody Gakpo is available to play in west London, though Klopp suggested the Dutchman may have to wait until the weekend FA Cup game.
"I spoke to him, I can only say good things because I’m here, enjoying my time," Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk said of the arrival of his international team-mate, explaining his own role in the signing was exaggerated. "We’ve been very successful but the manager said it as well, if it was me it was an easy decision to make, I didn’t need convincing."
