Slot relishing Liverpool’s Real Madrid, Man City double-header

Arne Slot is enjoying Liverpool's upcoming double-header against Real Madrid and Manchester City.

Liverpool came from behind thanks to Mohamed Salah's double in the second half to beat Southampton 3-2 on Sunday.

That win at St Mary's put the Reds eight points clear of Man City, who were beaten 4-0 at home by Tottenham on Saturday for a fifth straight defeat in all competitions.

Pep Guardiola's team visits Anfield on December 1, although the Reds first host European champions Madrid in the Champions League.

And Slot can't wait for Liverpool to take on two heavyweights.

“That's what you need in a competition like this, with so many quality teams. You have to keep winning because if you don't, the others will,” the Dutchman told BBC Sport.

“That's what we try to do every game, now it's Real Madrid and next Sunday it's Man City.

“You couldn't ask for better than to play these two games at home next week.”

10 – No manager in Premier League history has achieved ten wins in fewer games from the start of his league career than Liverpool's Arne Slot (12 games, equal to Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti). Soft. pic.twitter.com/diyxChwNI1

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 24, 2024

No manager in the history of the Premier League has achieved ten wins in fewer games from the start of his league career than Slot (12 games, level with Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti).

However, Liverpool owed a lot to Salah, with the striker dragging them level and then converting the winner from the penalty spot after Mateus Fernandes had given Southampton a surprise lead early in the second half, following goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Adam Armstrong for rest. .

Salah became the first player to score in five consecutive Premier League appearances for Liverpool since the Egyptian himself in October 2021 (seven in a row). His second goal was his 100th away from Anfield for Liverpool in all competitions.

“It was very good that Mo scored at that moment,” said Slot of Salah's first goal, which came in the 65th minute when he pushed Ryan Gravenberch's pass past the stranded Alex McCarthy.

“It wasn't the best period of the game so he helped us with that and then we dominated so much that they got tired.

“That is what special players do. They can score goals out of nowhere. It does not come completely out of nowhere, because Gravenberch's assist is also a great ball, but Mo is known for the timing of his runs, he feels the right moment on.” to run behind the last line, and normally you know he's not offside because he always finds the right moment and then he scores the goal, which was very useful for us.”

Southampton 2-3 Liverpool FT

Arne Slot turns 12 wins into 10 wins to start in the Premier League – the joint fewest games a manager has needed to reach 10 wins in the league.

Victory leaves Liverpool eight points clear at the top of the table #SOULIV pic.twitter.com/0XeT3qZYtY

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) November 24, 2024

Although Slot acknowledged Liverpool were being tested by the Premier League's bottom club, he felt his team were always in control.

He added: “It wasn't a surprise to us, we saw how they played against Man City, Arsenal and Newcastle in away games, let alone how they would play in a home game against a top team. But we dominated. Because we met Down 2-1, that made it very difficult for us.

“We dominated the whole game, which is not so easy against Southampton because they want possession, they also want to dominate the game, but they couldn't. Because the score was as it was, it felt like a difficult game, but if you Looking at the underlying figures, we deserved to win.”

These statistics support Slot's point. Liverpool scored 2.9 expected goals from 27 shots, 11 of which were on target, while they also limited Southampton to 37.9% possession.