Arne Slot outlines Liverpool readiness for Newcastle United clash
Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version or go back to LFC Live.net.
Image Credits: Imago ImagesLiverpool’s Premier League season is already shaping up with talking points.
They opened with a 4-2 win over Bournemouth, a game where late goals from Mohamed Salah and new signing Federico Chiesa sealed the result.
Hugo Ekitike also made his debut and impressed.
Now, attention turns to Monday night’s trip to St James’ Park.
Newcastle United have their own issues, with Alexander Isak at the center of transfer drama.
The Swedish striker has said his relationship with the club is broken, and Liverpool are among the sides linked with him.
But he will not feature against the Reds.
For Arne Slot and his squad, this fixture is about building momentum and showing their £300m summer overhaul can deliver results against tough opposition.
With Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham all starting strongly, Liverpool know they cannot afford to slip.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Slot made it clear he is happy with the squad he has.
“No, I’m very happy with the squad we’re having now.”
“Very happy, as you could see, Friday night as well, that we could impact the game from the bench, as we did so many times last season.”
“So, yeah, happy, but as always, if it’s 10 days to go, I don’t know how long the market is open, we will always look.”
On the transfer links to Isak, Slot avoided the speculation.
“I think the way Hugo Ekitike started his career at Liverpool, we should talk about him and say how well he did.”
“It would be unfair to him to talk about other targets if they are actually there.”
“And if they are there, we don’t speak about them in public.
But I think the main thing should be that we talk about how well Hugo has done until now.”
Asked about Isak’s absence for Newcastle, he admitted, “He scored against us in the League Cup final, and he scored against us in the away game [last season].”
“So yeah, if they have him, he’s a big, big, big threat, but like any other team in the Premier League, if one is injured or not there, it’s not like the manager has to look at his bench and say, ‘now I have no one to play anymore’.”
“For them to play [Anthony] Gordon, [Anthony] Elanga and [Harvey] Barnes and still having [Jacob] Murphy on the bench like last time, maybe it changes this game, it tells you how much quality they still have available.”
Slot also reflected on last year’s clashes, “The atmosphere was amazing last year [at St James’ Park], and the intensity levels of their players were amazing, and there were no talks then.”
“They fully deserved to win the League Cup final from us?
Even if we would have been at our best, I would be far from sure we could have beaten that Newcastle team on that day, because they were outstanding.”
“What I do know is that we need to be much better than we were.”
“In the end of the season, it was harder and harder for us to win our game.”
“I think we had to rely a few times on our set-pieces back then as well.”
Liverpool travel to Tyneside with pressure to deliver again, knowing Newcastle have not beaten them in the league since 2015.
Read More: Florian Wirtz reveals how Arne Slot convinced him to join Liverpool
Want to get the latest Liverpool news direct to your phone