Liverpool host Manchester City on Sunday looking to avenge their defeat in the reverse fixture
Arne Slot hopes Liverpool can show a “different side” when they meet Manchester City on Sunday, having been “outplayed completely” in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
City cruised to a 3-0 win at the Etihad in November with Liverpool suffering what turned out to be the first of three heavy defeats.
They have stabilised since that point, going 13 games unbeaten before losing at Bournemouth, but the defence of the Premier League title they won so impressively last season has long been over.
A top-four finish and a guaranteed spot in next season’s Champions League is now the priority but Slot knows the performance levels of his team will have to increase for that to be achieved, starting at the weekend.
He said: ”The game we played over there, we were outplayed completely in the first half for large parts. It’s not a moment for us to see where we are in the development of this team.
“We’ve shown that, except that first half [against Man City] and the first half against [Crystal] Palace, that we can compete with any team that we’ve faced. Unfortunately, we haven’t found the consistency to get consistent results but we’ve shown against all of the names that we are ready to compete.
“They were the better team [in November] and I think we want to show a different side of us this time.”
City’s reserves beat Newcastle – Liverpool boss Slot
A much-changed City cruised into the EFL Cup final last night, beating Newcastle 3-1 to complete a 5-1 aggregate win.
Slot added: “They’re a very good team that even beat the team we beat last weekend without their starters so that tells you, combined with the game against them, what a force City still is and always will be.”
City go into the weekend in second place – six points behind leaders Arsenal – while Liverpool are sixth following Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Newcastle, Hugo Ekitike scoring twice as the Merseysiders showed a ruthless streak rarely displayed this season.
“I think we’ve played much better than that,” said Slot. “It was a good last hour, first half hour wasn’t what we wanted it to be again for obvious reasons because if you dive into the data, the first half we didn’t play that much and there were a lot of set-pieces which took a lot of time so it was difficult to find momentum and pace.
“I liked our last hour but I don’t think it was our best [match] – I think we’ve played many games with really good football. Unfortunately, we’re not always able to be that good in both boxes, now in the last two games we’ve been really good in both boxes and people are starting to notice that our football might be better as well. But that football part has always been, for 95% of the minutes we’ve played, far above the acceptable level.”
Ekitike stole the headlines last weekend but Florian Wirtz produced another impressive display, and a goal, as his adaptation to the English game continued.
The Germany international struggled in the early months of the season but is now looking like the player that starred at Bayer Leverkusen before moving to Anfield last summer.
“First and foremost, credit to the player because he has to do the work,” said Slot. “Not only on the pitch but also in the gym. Then as a manager, even if he is struggling a little bit at the start, you have to keep playing him because that is the only way he can improve. He is an example of that.
“I think he didn’t improve that much on the ball because from the start he was special [but] maybe now he has a better connection with his team-mates because they’ve played more and more together. Off the ball is where I see the biggest improvement with him, and some others, and that combination makes you ready for the Premier League.”
