Arne Slot suggested that Liverpool’s 3-6 win against Tottenham Hotspur in N17 on Sunday was “maybe our best performance away from home” as the Reds move four points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
The Dutchman’s side had scored thrice by the interval, with only James Maddison giving Spurs a glimmer of hope – and a quickfire double from Mo Salah soon extended that advantage, nullifying the effects of a late flurry of goals from the hosts.
What did Arne Slot say?
“Maybe it was our best performance away from home,” the Dutchman quipped in his post-match press conference at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, “although I really liked what I saw against Man United as well.”
“Today, apart from scoring six goals, I think we could have even scored more. It’s always like this, you don’t score every chance, although Tottenham almost did because the first three chances were a goal, I think, and then the fourth one luckily enough didn’t go in. Mo [Salah] and Lucho [Díaz], they were both with two goals, maybe the ones that stand out in terms of scoring two.”
It was a momentous occasion for Salah in particular, with the Egyptian forward moving up to fourth in the club’s all-time goalscorer table and becoming the first player in Premier League history to hit double digits in both goals and assists before Christmas.
Speaking on his experiences of working with the talisman, Slot commented: “I think Mo shows what he has shown for so many years at Liverpool, that he can score a goal and the team just has to provide him to come into these positions where he came today many times. Then he is able to score goals or provide assists.”
Embed from Getty Images“Apart from him being a very good football player, I think he is a very likeable person to work with as well. He is always there to help his teammates. He is always down to earth, so tomorrow – or even now, I think – he will work on his recovery. He understands what it takes to be at this level every three days and he is working really hard for that. So, that maybe impressed me most – that a top player like him understands how hard he has to work for the quality he shows.”
But Slot was keen to emphasise that he wasn’t just impressed by Salah and Díaz, reserving special praise for Dominik Szoboszlai too after an impressive performance from the Hungarian.
“We would not do justice to Dom’s performance if we don’t name him as well because, apart from his attacking things he did today, he was without the ball also an important part of our game plan, and that’s what he executed very well. […] If you watch the goals one more time back – and that’s definitely what I am going to do – it mostly started off with centre-backs or full-backs. Every lead-up to a goal was, I think, multiple passes. So, it’s not only the ones that score, it’s also the ones that help to create.”
FEATURED IMAGE: Tom McAtee