Slot names star who can make a difference & rekindles rivalry with RvN

Arne Slot has warned his Liverpool players to be on top of their game against Leicester on Thursday evening.

Ruud van Nistelrooy's side are 17th in the table, just two points above the relegation zone, and have conceded seven goals without scoring in their past two games, but Slot is taking nothing for granted.

“It's special for these teams to go to Anfield and they know that when they go to Anfield they have to be at their best, so they never underestimate us,” said Slot, whose side are four points clear at the top.

'Hopefully that's the good thing about the 15 minutes we had (when Liverpool conceded twice to Tottenham) which we understand we can't underestimate for a minute in the Premier League because then we're not as good as we might think. '

Slot and Van Nistelrooy have history from their time in the Netherlands. Slot's Feyenoord won the Dutch title in 2023 but failed to beat Van Nistelrooy's PSV in the league, losing one and drawing one.

“Cody Gakpo was on his team, so I'm glad he's on my team now for when we face Ruud,” Slot said.

'Ruud is a nice person. I met him once or twice. He did very well at PSV, because they have been at the top of the rankings for a year and a half. If you look at Ruud's second half of the season, they only lost once. While he was there, Gakpo and Noni Madueke were sold but he was still fighting for the title.”

During his time as manager in the Eredivisie, Slot was used to a winter break from football, but this year he has had to get used to the busy festive schedule.

He told Sky Sports: 'It's different. This week there was a padel tournament that my brother organized.

'I was there last season and then I went to Dubai for 10 days. Now I'm not going to Dubai because I'm going to manage a few matches!'

He admitted it was difficult being away from family at Christmas. “There are clear reasons why we kept the children and my wife in the Netherlands as they are in their final year of school,” he said. 'But in an ideal world you are manager of Liverpool and you have your family around you.'