Aston Villa travelled to Anfield for this clash between somewhat local rivals. Following goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah, Liverpool found themselves 2-0 victors over the visitors. Sitting top of both the Premier League and the Champions League heading into the latest international break, both Arne Slot and Alexis Mac Allister had their say after the game.
Alexis Mac Allister spoke with the media after the game, he spoke about how massive this victory was and Mohamed Salah:
“A very big win against a very good team, I think we dominated the game, we played a very good game. The goals came in counter-attacks but I think overall the team played a very good game. We are happy with it.
“We know that we are top of the league but there is still a lot of games, so we take it step by step. If you are top of the league, five points ahead, then it means something. But as I say, we have to go step by step.
“If you ask me before the season started, I wouldn’t say we were candidates but now it looks like [we are]. We are going to keep working and trying to get better.”
When Mac Allister was asked about the value of having someone like Mohamed Salah in the squad:
“He’s so good and so important for this team, I think we all know – not just for the team, for the club as well, he’s a legend here. So, [I’m] happy for him. When you have him, you know that he’s going to deliver, he’s going to get the numbers. We’re happy that he’s playing for us.”
Arne Slot was then speaking to the media and the question on everyone’s mind was concerning defender, Trent Alexander-Arnold, who came off in the first half following an injury:
“It’s difficult to say how serious it is, but it’s always serious if a player goes out in the first half,” Slot told his post-match press conference. “Not because I didn’t like him, but because he asked for it himself.
“He didn’t ask for it because he was tired, he asked for it because he felt something.
“That’s first of all not a good sign, but it is always difficult so close after the game to tell you exactly what it is. Let’s wait and see. I would be surprised if we will see him playing for the England national team this week, but hopefully he can.”
When asked what is better than tonight’s win and going five points clear at the top of the Premier League:
”Because of the first reason – if you win it mostly doesn’t get better than that and yeah, you know if you win the amount of games we do, you can be ahead. It’s not sure yet in this league because Arsenal, City, Chelsea, all these clubs that are playing in this league, they are able to win so many games as well and that’s what they have shown in the last few seasons. So, we are only focused on ourselves and then a win against a very good team like Villa, who have done so well in the last few years, is always important.”
Slot was asked about the Anfield atmosphere again tonight and if Manchester City’s defeat added ‘extra motivation’?
”I cannot tell what the fans felt about that. I can only tell that if my players need extra motivation for a result on the pitch, that would not be a good idea. I think if you play at Anfield in front of your own fans you should always be motivated and that’s what they’ve been for the time I have been here now and probably the years before as well. So, you should not need motivation from a result on another pitch and that’s also not what I felt today with the players. Maybe the fans feel different, I don’t know, you’d have to ask them.”
When asked about the tactics leading to both goals, which came from Aston Villa set pieces:
”We did put effort in defending them from scoring because that was also today – not in general, but today – that was their main threat in my opinion, their set-pieces, so we had to do a lot to prevent them from scoring and one or two times we needed our goalkeeper for that. And then these counter-breaks had nothing to do with what we do on the training ground or what we tell them before: that is pure quality and purely what the players come up with in these transition moments. For us, it’s about preventing the other team from scoring but for the ones that have been here for so many years it’s not going to be a complete surprise because it happened before I think.”
Arne was asked what would happen when Alisson becomes fit again, with relation to Kelleher:
”First of all, Alisson needs to become fit and I’ve always been quite clear and that’s always been the position of Alisson that he is, and will be, our first goalkeeper if he is fit. But therefore he first needs to be it, but Caoimhin [Kelleher] has done outstanding last season and this season again as well. But the moment Alisson will be fit he will be our first goalkeeper.”
Asked about the significance of three home wins in a row at this stage of the season:
”It was definitely a big week but every game is a big week. We play so many games in all these competitions against so much strong opponents, so hopefully we will have a lot of these weeks to come because these weeks are mostly big if you are competing for something and that is what we are doing at the moment. We are competing, trying to complete for the league, trying to compete for the Champions League and trying to compete for the cups we are in as well. We also know it’s a long season where we have to continuously be on top of our game because the likes of Arsenal, City and Chelsea and all these other clubs are able to win just as many games as we did in the first 15 to 16 games. So, we have to stay on top of our game, which is never going to be easy but we’ll push for it as much as we can.”
Liverpool head into the international break at the top of both the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League, having won 15 from 17, with one loss and one draw so far. They also boast an undefeated record away from home.
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