Arne Slot has said he will not encourage his players to go down for penalties after Hugo Ekitike‘s claim was waved away, instead calling on the officials to change how they view contact.Liverpool’s lack of a penalty against Leeds was not the reason they could not take all three points in the first game of the year, but it was an incident that has drawn attention.Ekitike was handled in the penalty box but opted to stay on his feet and attempt to get the shot away instead of forcing referee Chris Kavanagh to make a decision by going to ground.By trying to be honest, the incident was not looked at further, but Slot will not be encouraging his players to change how they approach situations in the future.“I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that one of my players stays on his feet in a situation like this,” Slot told BBC Sport in relation to the incident.Should Hugo Ekitike have gone to ground under the challenge from Jaka Bijol, rather than attempting to get a shot away? ?Arne Slot thinks the Liverpool forward was punished for staying on his feet, when it could have been a penalty. pic.twitter.com/Cvd2iWqyhX— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) January 2, 2026“I think it was West Ham away when Lucas Paqueta tried to get a second yellow card, but one of my players tried to get him out of the situation, because that is mainly who we’ve been this season.“Of course, one or two times you can find the moment we say, ‘Ah, they went to the floor when it wasn’t a foul’, but it’s just who we are.“Unfortunately, this is not recognised a lot, because in the second half, I saw players of them going down in their own box so many times, and every time the referee rewarded that with a free kick.“So yeah, the big question is, should we change? Yes or no?” Then pressed on whether Liverpool should, in fact, change how they approach incidents like Ekitike’s, Slot added: “I don’t think we should, because this is who we are.“But I’m hoping other people change and see what we do and what other teams do as well.“But okay, it has nothing to do with the end result of today, let that be completely clear. Although if he goes down, it’s probably a red card and a penalty.“I’m not sure if that’s true, but it would definitely be a penalty, and that would have increased our chances of winning a game against a team that came here to defend.”It is part of the game that needs looking at, as a player trying to be honest and keep play going does not get the benefit of the doubt over someone who falls more easily.While Slot evidently will not encourage his players to change, they perhaps need to be a little more savvy – and that not only pertains to the penalty box.