Home ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE EPL Liverpool vs Chelsea: Slot Talks Confidence, Injuries and Title Race

Liverpool vs Chelsea: Slot Talks Confidence, Injuries and Title Race

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Arne Slot
Slot suggests Salah and Isak could be back for Chelsea match

Despite a tough season, Slot says he’s prepared to keep fighting as Liverpool prepare to face Chelsea with Salah and Isak nearing returns.


Liverpool fans get positive news ahead of Chelsea’s visit, with Slot confirming three key players are set to come back into the side...
  

Liverpool manager Arne Slot addressed the media ahead of this weekend’s Premier League meeting with Chelsea.


The Reds’ run of three straight league wins was halted last weekend after a 3-2 defeat to Manchester United.


Even with the loss, Liverpool sit fourth in the table, holding a six-point gap over Bournemouth and a seven-point cushion on Brentford as they push for Champions League qualification.



Confidence Boost Against Out-of-Form Chelsea
 
Liverpool will draw some belief from the fact that Chelsea come to Anfield on the back of six straight Premier League defeats and will likely be seen as underdogs.

 
The Liverpool boss spoke candidly about a drop in confidence within the squad following exits from every competition this season, a run that has left the league champions without silverware.


“It always weighs heavy on players if you lose more games than you would want, especially at a club like this. These players are used to winning.The performance clearly in the Premier League we didn't pick up the points we should have. 


“We haven't had a very good season in the Premier League but we've played better and not got the points we should have. In the Champions League we played to our standard. Over two games, no club has been able to beat PSG in the last two years. We could have gone close at Anfield if VAR hadn't overturned an award (of a penalty) it usually doesn't.” 


Slot warns against underestimating Chelsea despite injury woes  

With Liverpool low on confidence and dealing with multiple injuries, Slot also noted that Chelsea arrive with their own long list of absentees across the squad, and he doesn’t expect that to make them any less dangerous.


“If our information is correct then they will have a few players back to make them stronger. That will be massive for them. Always a difficult game for both teams. Lot of very good individual players, let's hope we have a very good team performance as well.


“All managers have their own idea about football; they've had three this season. Current manager is closer to what Maresca usually did, so has a very clear identity of how they play. Clear what to expect. Usually three centre-backs.”





Beating Chelsea could steady a shaky Liverpool side

A victory over Chelsea might help restore some belief in a Liverpool team that, according to reports, left Slot close to the sack on multiple occasions this season due to inconsistent performances.


When pressed about the prospect of another transition year ahead of next season, the Dutch manager said he’s ready to keep fighting and take it on.


“I'm only looking forward to it, so I'm not worried at all. As I looked forward to working with these players two years ago and one year ago. As a manager, you're never worried; you're just looking forward to working with players. There will probably be another little transition, but not as drastic as last year. One player probably replaced by Kostas Tsimikas who is coming back off loan.


“On team bonding and squad changes: “When Mo (Mohamed Salah) was 26 and these players were in their prime they won CL and got PL with 99 points. Recently, we have had quite good examples of players who aren't that old at PSG but have the standards to win a game with 11 players attacking and defending together.


“It's more about the personality of the player than the age. Of course, you can inject it in the transfer market but we have a lot of players who have the right mentality to play for this club.”


Triple Boost for Liverpool

Slot delivered some good news for fans, confirming that Alexander Isak, Alisson Becker, and Mohamed Salah are all in line to return to the starting lineup.


“Alex (Isak) has trained with us again, only for the first time, yesterday. So that is a positive, yesterday he did pasts of it (training). Hopefully he can do parts or all of it today. Then we will see how much we can use him tomorrow. 




“Alisson (Becker) not yet, hasn't trained with us yet but very close. Mamardashvili will train with us today for the first time, so let's see how he is going to react. 


“Mo also hasn't trained with us yet but is also getting very, very close to train with us.“





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