Liverpool ‘came close to perfection’ in Man City win, says Slot

Arne Slot believes his Liverpool team are “close to perfection” in their 2-0 win over Manchester City and move nine points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Liverpool added more misery to Pep Guardiola's side, with goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah sending the Citizens to a sixth defeat in seven games.

And the Reds were worthy of their victory. They scored an expected goals (xG) of 3.35 from their 18 shots, compared to City's paltry 0.82 from their eight attempts.

Liverpool's lead at the top is their largest margin as league leaders since the final day of the 2019/20 season, when they won their last title (18 points).

Although Slot did not want to get carried away with his latest victory, he praised his team for their performance at Anfield.

“Yes [it was almost a perfect match]and if you look at the work rate, I think it was perfect. Due to the number of opportunities we missed, it ultimately became tight,” said Slot.

“But maybe that's nice for games like these. It should be that way. But it would have been nicer if we had scored the second goal earlier.”

“We always aim high, but they are so good at building up, so you have to work very hard. Our players had energy. Apart from our players, the crowd was fantastic today.

“We are a compatible team and it is difficult to beat us. But we also have to give our best. But we have injuries. We had to take Trent [Alexander-Arnold] out. It would have been a risk.

“These are the challenges we face at the moment, but every team faces these challenges throughout a season. Next week is a big week against Newcastle and Everton.

9 – Liverpool are now nine points clear at the top of the Premier League; their largest margin as league leaders since the final day of the 2019/20 season, when they won their last title (18). March. pic.twitter.com/Jzx3pSCNBl

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 1, 2024

“Ideally I would have liked the second half to be the same as the first half. But then the quality of the other team.

“If you want to beat City you have to be perfect in every part of the game. High pressure, low pressure, build-up. They bring you so many problems.

“We came close to perfection. We weren't perfect, but we came close to perfection. That's the only way to beat a quality team like City.”

'I don't think anyone, including myself, could have predicted this [start]. I knew Jurgen [Klopp] left the team in a very good place.

But still, to win so much with all the difficult teams we have already played against is not something you could have predicted at the start of the season.

“But like I said, I saw Arsenal yesterday and Chelsea today and I saw City. They will come back because these teams have so much quality.”

“They could be on the same run as us. So we have to stay sharp and focused.”

However, Slot also highlighted his side's missed chances, with Liverpool perhaps unlucky not to end the encounter with a better score.

Salah squandered perhaps the best of those chances by firing over after intercepting Bernardo Silva's pass, with only Stefan Ortega to beat.

“That's true. Even though I've watched this game every time I wasn't working here, maybe this game deserved the way it went because it was special until the end,” he added.

“But if you just look at it from a Liverpool perspective, it wouldn't have been surprising if we had been two goals ahead at half-time or at any other point in the game.

“City dominated possession, but still the chances were ours.

“When you play against City you have to worry for 90 minutes because they can cause you problems every second of the game.

“Even when you're 2-0 up, you think like that. I saw a match with my old club doing something special.

“But no, you never feel comfortable playing against City because of the quality of their players and their manager.”

Mo Salah in the @premierleague this season pic.twitter.com/PnOtVYjq2F

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 1, 2024