There was no sense of urgency in the wide areas, but anyone who follows Liverpool regularly will not be surprised.
For all his strengths, Szoboszlai is simply not a winger, and many of his great performances this season have mainly come from midfield.
Federico Chiesa has been largely ignored while Mohamed Salah has been absent from the African Cup of Nations.
Rio Ngmoha, who played just a few minutes at the end of Thursday’s fruitless draw with Leeds, was the brightest player on the pitch.
Did it pay off to start against Fulham? No, Slot removed him again and instead had two midfielders out wide. He didn’t even come off the bench.
Jeremy Frimpong replaced Ngmoha a few days ago, proving his vitality in his few appearances for the club since joining from Bayer Leverkusen.
Back on the bench at Craven Cottage.
He made an immediate impact when he came on, scoring what appeared to be the winner with a cross to Gakpo before Reid’s incredible strike in the final minute.
Putting Chiesa, Ngmoha and Frimpong at full strength against this confident and lively Fulham team could only spell trouble.
Szoboszlai is a great player, probably the Reds’ best player this season, and would benefit from having a player like Harry Wilson on the outside.
And when the Welshman put Fulham ahead, they delighted in watching Liverpool’s crowded five-man midfield play almost entirely in front of the defence.
But Slott has no one to blame but himself for sending out a team that lacked the urgency and tools to properly damage opponents.
Wirtz scored an equalizing goal that many in the ground did not expect to stand, but was ruled offside as Conor Bradley made a dizzying run into the box.
Away from goals, Liverpool were too often lacking in ideas, born of great moments from both right-backs.
When Frimpong was finally introduced in the 76th minute, it was perplexing that goalscorer Wirths made way. The German was one of the better performers and Wilson almost scored his second moments later, but he hit the bar from on target before the two late goals canceled out each other.
Szoboszlai was given a new task of playing on the left wing, but also at right-back, an even more unfamiliar role than the previous week.
His versatility has been punished and Liverpool are worse off for it.
