Arne Slot has highlighted what made ‘the most important distinction’ for Liverpool on Wednesday night time compared to another matches this season.
The Reds claimed a hard-fought and much-needed victory away to Sunderland courtesy of a 61st-minute winner from Virgil van Dijk, whose header from a Mo Salah nook kick was too highly effective for Habib Diarra on the goalline to maintain out.
The character of how the three factors had been earned was mirrored within the captain’s post-match feedback as he saluted a ‘nice win’ which was achieved by ‘onerous work’ on a ‘troublesome pitch’ in torrential rain on the Stadium of Mild.
Slot proclaims set-piece ‘distinction’
Chatting with reporters after the match, Slot identified how – in distinction to a number of different video games this season – Liverpool tasted pleasure from set items quite than being undone by them.
The Reds boss mentioned (through liverpoolfc.com): “In the long run we wanted a set piece to attain, and we normally have in opposition to these groups 10 set items, however we normally – and other people from Liverpool can let you know – don’t rating from set items.
“Tonight we did and that’s the most important distinction to Burnley at dwelling… I can give you all these [examples]; Leeds away, Leeds at dwelling – all these video games.”
Liverpool have improved massively on set items in latest weeks
Set items have been Liverpool’s kryptonite for a lot of this season, with Aaron Briggs (the specialist coach in that space) leaving the membership on the finish of December and Slot saying as lately as two weeks in the past that his crew have been a ‘catastrophe’ from dead-ball routines within the present marketing campaign.
These feedback got here within the aftermath of conceding a stoppage-time winner from a protracted throw-in at Bournemouth, however as Lewis Steele highlighted in an article for the Each day Mail after final night time’s match, the Reds have truly improved significantly in that regard of late.
The journalist identified that Van Dijk’s winner at Sunderland is already the eighth set-piece objective scored by LFC in 2026, with simply two conceded from dead-ball conditions in that point, a welcome inversion of the scary pattern which had been prevalent earlier than the flip of the 12 months.
Liverpool confirmed a defensive metal on Wearside which has typically been missing on this underwhelming marketing campaign, though Slot made it clear that he was unimpressed with what number of scorable possibilities his crew handed up final night time, which might’ve value them had it not been for the skipper’s intervention.
The end result on the Stadium of Mild was no factor of magnificence, however it was by no means going to be. As a substitute, the Reds displayed the form of attritional qualities which might serve them very nicely as they search to clinch Champions League qualification within the ultimate third of the season.
You’ll be able to watch Slot’s full post-Sunderland press convention beneath, through Empire of the Kop on YouTube:
