Abhay Singh
Liverpool manager Arne Slot was effusive in his admiration for the stand-in players who stepped up when needed, particularly singling out Darwin Nunez and Caoimhin Kelleher for their pivotal roles.
Their exceptional contributions were integral in securing a crucial 1-0 victory away to RB Leipzig on Wednesday, further solidifying the club’s impressive run at the beginning of the season.
Slot’s praise underscored the depth and resilience of Liverpool’s squad, highlighting the collective effort that drives their success.
The win was Liverpool’s third out of three in the Champions League
With the victory, Liverpool set a new club record by winning its first six away games of the season and improving their record to third out of three in the Champions League.
Since taking over for Juergen Klopp at Anfield, Dutchman Slot has won 11 of his 12 games, setting a club record.
As seen in Leipzig on Wednesday, he seems to have the Midas touch right now and excels even when he is obliged to start second-choice players.
Nunez has mostly been used as a substitute this season, but the frequently irritable Uruguayan was given a start due to Diogo Jota’s injury, and he made the most of it. In an effort-filled display, he forced a fantastic save from Leipzig goalie Peter Gulacsi, scored the game-winning goal, and had a perfectly good penalty shot denied.
Slot was irritated that his team was unable to end the match, and Liverpool had some nerve-wracking moments in the final minutes when Kelleher, who was once more filling in for the injured Alisson, made two fantastic stops to keep his team ahead.
“We are happy that we have two excellent goalkeepers”
Slot said “We are very fortunate. It’s also normal at a club like ours to have two very good players in every position, We are happy that we have two excellent goalkeepers. But it’s not only him — other players who maybe haven’t played that much this season or haven’t been starting also showed up today.”
Mohamed Salah’s header may have been going in anyhow, and Nunez’s tap-in was his second goal of the season. However, it was a prize for a hard-working performance.
Slot added “What I liked from Darwin was that he was also strong, comfortable on the ball, kept the ball a lot, fighting if he had to defend, so he made it a really difficult game for the two centre backs of Leipzig, And then for him scoring, I think that is always nice for a striker to be on the scoresheet.”
The leaders Liverpool will now play a crucial Premier League match against Arsenal on Sunday, and a win would put them seven points ahead of a team that many have predicted will win the championship.
Even though Salah appeared shocked to be leaving, Slot benefited by the substitution, which saved him from playing the final 30 minutes in Leipzig.
Slot stated “We have some injuries now so I have to take good care of the players that have played a lot and Mo is one of them and on Sunday, a big game is coming up again, So, I need to use as many players as I can use for these next tough weeks and these tough months that are coming up, so that they are all prepared to play.”
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