Arne Slot questioned his Liverpool players' effort and fighting spirit once they fell behind against Manchester City during their 4-0 defeat in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Liverpool had matched their opponents for a large part of the first half at the Etihad Stadium as Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitike missed good chances, but when Virgil van Dijk conceded a penalty which Erling Haaland dispatched, the floodgates opened in a rampant 20-minute spell.

Reds midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai claimed his team-mates lacked the mentality to recover from the setback and boss Slot agreed their reaction to Haaland's opener was not good enough.

"I did not feel this until the moment they scored the 1-0 and I think after they scored, we were still in the game, but then twice they got through when we had a throw-in. And they go so fast, in those moments you have to defend sharper," he said.

"The second goal was a similar one we conceded earlier on this season over here and the second time we conceded just before half-time, playing Man City.

"I missed the fighting spirit definitely in the first 10 minutes after half-time and then afterwards it was just a game where both...