Arne Slot sharp comment to TNT Sports presenter before Crystal Palace vs Liverpool speaks volumes
Arne Slot will accept nothing besides perfection at Liverpool, and made sure to reiterate that point ahead of his team's battle with Crystal Palace. The Reds have the opportunity to hold their lead of the Premier League with victory.
Whilst the early Saturday kick-off has been a contentious subject for the Reds and their recent title challenges, the calm and measured approach of the new head coach with lesser expectations thrust upon him has brought a different feel to today's clash. The pressure may still exist but at this extremely early stage keeping within a few points of the league leaders isn't the end of the world in the slightest.
But the boss will not be thinking negatively one bit and to date that has served him well. Of nine competitive matches in all competitions since taking the reins, only a single defeat to Nottingham Forest tarnishes his otherwise perfect record.
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Taking part in an interview prior to kick-off, TNT Sports' Lynsey Hipgrave asked Slot: "What a brilliant start it has been, eight wins out of nine you have had. What has been key to that brilliant start for you?
Without hesitation, he corrected her: "Brilliant would have been nine out of nine."
This has, and will continue to be, the message as the Reds quietly keep company with established title challengers Manchester City and Arsenal.
He continued to tell her: "This has been a very good start, the key is and I have said many times that we have not changed that much. And the players bought in, staff bought in and everybody has been working really hard to get the best out of ourselves as teams and individuals.
"I have said many times already fixture lists has also been good to us if you want to put it that way. Today is a difficult one so let's see."
With the Reds back in action less then 72 hours after beating Bologna at Anfield in the Champions League the Dutchman has been forced to make some big calls for the sake of rotation. For the first time in the Premier League this campaign Luis Diaz does not start - Cody Gakpo replaces the Colombian - whilst Curtis Jones starts ahead of Dominik Szoboszlai.
Kostas Tsimikas enters for Andy Robertson whilst Caoimhin Kelleher is not on the bench, believed to be because of illness, so Vitezslav Jaros is understudy to Alisson. But Slot's latest comments show his ambition for the season ahead.
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