Liverpool have opened the season in style under Arne Slot. With three wins out of three games, and no goals conceded, Liverpool fans have much to be excited about. After impressive wins over Brentford and Ipswich Town and a highlight 3-0 victory over Manchester United, Slot has started brilliantly which will certainly have the fans optimistic for the rest of the season following the upcoming international break.
The season started at Portman Road, where a brilliant second half performance saw Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah score in a 2-0 win. In this game, Liverpool struggled to control the game, losing duels and failing to create clear cut chances in the first half. Slot identified the issues within the team, and he stamped his authority and showed his ability to make changes early on by taking Jarell Quansah off at half time for Ibrahima Konate. This worked for Slot as Liverpool looked much improved in the second half, bagging their two goals, based on the foundation of winning more of the duels that Slot was unhappy with losing.
Liverpool faced Brentford at Anfield next, with a more consistently dominant performance. Luis Diaz scored in the 13th minute after a brilliant counter attack which saw Diogo Jota play the Colombian winger in with a beautiful ball, before Diaz hit a powerful shot past Mark Flekken in the Brentford goal with his left foot. Liverpool controlled the game, keeping the ball well and continuing to create chances, while limiting Brentford’s opportunities. This paid off with a 70th minute goal curled finish by Mohamed Salah doubling Liverpool’s lead and allowing them to see the rest of the game out comfortably.
Old Trafford would be where Liverpool truly showed their brilliance under Slot. Trent Alexander-Arnold thought he had opened the scoring with a shot that hit Diogo Dalot just millimetres over the line, before kissing the camera, in what would’ve been an iconic celebration reminiscent of Steven Gerrard in 2014, but this was disallowed as Salah had just strayed offside. This didn’t knock Liverpool’s confidence however, as they continued to grow into the game and dominated the play and piled the pressure on. Casemiro cracked under the pressure as he gave the ball away to Ryan Gravenberch who passed to Salah, for him to cross it to Luis Diaz at the back post as he headed it in to make it 1-0. Casemiro continued to struggle as he lost the ball under pressure from Diaz who played the ball out to Salah who then found Diaz in the box once again, who found the bottom corner to make it 2-0 before half time.
Liverpool opened the second half continuing to control against their rivals, before Alexis Mac Allister won the ball from Kobbie Mainoo, played it to Dominik Szoboszlai who assisted Salah to make it 3-0 before the hour mark. The away fans were chanting “Ole” with every pass by this point, highlighting their superiority on the day over their North West rivals. Alisson would have to make a couple of big saves to ensure the clean sheet, however the win was never in doubt as the game ended with chants of Arne Slot’s name coming from the fans.
With a new face at the helm, there was always going to be some uncertainty from Liverpool fans at the beginning of the season over how he would replace the iconic Jurgen Klopp, however Slot has passed his first tests with flying colours and Liverpool fans are all behind him. So far, he has proven his worth tactically, shown his authority over the team, and shown improvements to last season in many regards.
Before the season begun, few saw Gravenberch as a starter for Liverpool in a central midfield role, however he has risen to the occasion for Arne Slot, putting in great performances as holding midfielder, namely against Manchester United which was arguably the best performance from a defensive midfielder for Liverpool since Fabinho was at his best for the Reds. He has also got the best out of players like Diaz and Dominik Szoboszlai so far, who struggled at times last season.
There have also been improvements in the control Liverpool have over games. Last season, a lot of games felt like a tennis match, constantly going from one end to the other. Under Slot so far, it has been Liverpool in control, keeping the ball well and creating most of the chances in games.
The biggest improvement however has been defensively. Liverpool conceded first in 23 games last season, and it wasn’t until the 29th of October and 10 games in that the Reds kept three clean sheets in the league last season. This season however, Liverpool have kept three clean sheets out of three games, they are the only team yet to concede in all the Premier League and have the lowest expected goals against in the Premier League.
This hasn’t seen a downturn in attacking performance either, with more big chances created than anyone else, the second most goals behind Manchester City and the highest expected goals in the league.
This isn’t to say that Liverpool are perfect under Slot and that he is better than Jurgen Klopp, it just proves that there is a lot to look forward to for the Reds after the international break, and if they continue with the form they’re currently in, Liverpool could be in for an exciting and successful season.
