On paper, Liverpool couldn’t have wished for a better fixture to sandwich their two Champions League ties against Paris Saint-Germain, at home to bottom-of-the-table Southampton.
Of course, football isn’t played on paper and after an opening 45 minutes that earned the Liverpool players the most animated version of Arne Slot so far, it took goals from Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah (twice) to turn things around and move 16 points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Slot made three changes at the interval, something he explained was as much to send a message to the other eight players as the trio he replaced. “I didn’t give them compliments at half-time, I can tell you,” he said post-match. “I said at half-time that energy levels were far, far, far too low.
Slot led a 'frustrated' team-talk to Liverpool players at half-time
"Nine out of 10 times when you take three out, the other eight are like, ‘Ooh, something else should happen,’” the Dutchman, ranked at no.9 in FourFourTwo's list of the best managers in the world right now, explained. “And that’s the only thing I could come up with at half-time to create something different for the second half.”
Salah offered more insight into Slot’s half-time address, saying the boss was frustrated with the side: “His head was like going for us, but it’s something you need sometimes because I think first half, the game was sloppy.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold, in a rare post-match interview this season, added: “I guess it’s a good thing he’s [Slot] not been too animated so far, but I think rightfully so [vs. Southampton]. It wasn’t good enough, (we) deserved to be down, but came out second half with a point to prove and did that really early on.”
Such a performance in terms of energy levels certainly won’t be enough to match PSG’s high energy and quality at Anfield on Tuesday.
While Slot made just three adjustments to his starting lineup, something he admitted post-match he would have done differently given the chance again, Luis Enrique was able to make eight changes for PSG in their game against Rennes.
The Parisians ran out 4-1 winners but did require two stoppage-time goals from substitute Ousmane Dembele to make it comfortable. Such luxuries, though, underline why playing in a less competitive league can give a team like PSG an advantage in Europe.
Both sides - who each moved 16 points clear in their respective league tables on Saturday night - had more than one eye on Tuesday.
Complacency and “three finals”
Slot had insisted that the Southampton match was one of “three finals” for Liverpool this week, with the PSG second leg followed by the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle on Sunday. “I have to convince my players that we play three finals,” he urged in his pre-Southampton press conference, several times referencing the importance of the league encounter.
The Dutchman was clearly keen to put across the message of not underestimating a team that could set a new Premier League record for lowest points in a season, seeking to guard against complacency for his players and the fans.
It took the half-time changes, with all three of Andy Robertson, Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott providing increased energy and quality, and ultimately the game was decided in 84 seconds - the time between Darwin Nunez’s equaliser and a penalty being awarded for a foul on the Uruguayan.
Nunez, without a goal at Anfield since November, proved the catalyst both on and off the pitch, encouraging the crowd after his goal, which resulted in the type of atmosphere Slot had requested pre-match. That created the very common occurrence of an opposition team conceding two quick goals in succession at Anfield.
A lot of the talk from Paris has been of PSG players not being intimidated by Liverpool or the Anfield atmosphere, but time and time again the biggest teams and players in Europe have left Anfield with such proclamations making them look foolish.
Tuesday night will provide an atmosphere, too, that Slot and his staff are yet to have experienced since joining the club: Anfield, under the lights for a European knockout tie.
Incredibly, Liverpool now don’t play a Premier League fixture for another 24 days, when Everton arrive at Anfield in early April. Attention instead turns to the Champions League and aiming to get the first silverware of the Slot era.
Southampton were dispatched thanks to 90 seconds that effectively won the game, Liverpool will need to be on their game for 90 minutes against PSG on Tuesday.
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