While several of Liverpool’s players didn’t perform to their best in the 2-2 draw against Arsenal, Arne Slot still saw positives to take from the game’s proceedings.
Despite Liverpool coming from behind twice against Arsenal, supporters could still deem the game as a missed opportunity given Mikel Arteta was missing William Saliba, Martin Odegaard and, for the last 35 minutes, centre-back Gabriel.
Thankfully, the Reds avoided defeat and remain four points above the Gunners thanks to Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah‘s equalisers in either half.
While Liverpool didn’t play to their highest level, Slot took two main positives from the match, telling Sky Sports: “What pleased me a lot was we had one time (day) less to prepare this game, so one time less to recover. We had to fly.
Arne Slot is pleased with his Liverpool side coming from behind twice to earn the point at The Emirates ? pic.twitter.com/yLXBaGnRhQ
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 27, 2024
“And then how strong we were in the second half, physique, and also the ones that came in, that pleased me most – and being two times down in this stadium and still [to] get a point is a good thing.”
Slot waited until the 63rd minute to make any substitutions but, when he did, it was a triple change as Alexis Mac Allister, Andy Robertson and Luis Diaz were all withdrawn.
In their place came Dominik Szoboszlai, Kostas Tsimikas and Cody Gakpo. The head coach made one more substitution, swapping Curtis Jones for Wataru Endo in injury time.
Slot added: “What helped us in my opinion gave us also some new energy and the ones that kept in the team were able – and they played already during the week – to keep going and keep fighting for a result and that is what pleased me most in the end.”
Liverpool did improve after the break, with Trent Alexander-Arnold stepping inside more often and the players winning more of their individual battles while keeping possession for longer.
Slot explained what he tweaked at the break, saying: “Actually what we always talk about, it’s mostly about ‘OK, how do they press us?’ and ‘how do we find the free man or free player in midfield and how can we open that up and how can we press them a bit better?’ because that wasn’t perfect in the first half.”
A point at the Emirates isn’t a bad point, but you would like that to be followed up now by another winning run to ensure Liverpool remain as close to Man City as possible during the current tricky run of fixtures.
