Arne Slot, the new manager of Liverpool, has led the club to a nearly faultless start to his tenure as manager, but Liverpool will face their most tough battle to yet when they play Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
It has been confirmed by Arne Slot that Diogo Jota will not be able to travel with Liverpool to Arsenal on Sunday. Additionally, Conor Bradley and Federico Chiesa are expected to be absent from the match.
When Jota sustained an injury during Liverpool’s victory against Chelsea on the previous Sunday, he was forced to leave the game, and according to Slot, the head coach of the Reds, the Portugal striker is still out of action. Darwin Nunez will continue to play the position of No. 9 for Liverpool, and Slot stated that Chiesa and Bradley are also having difficulty making it to the Emirates Stadium.
Slot responded, “I think they feel good, but not when it comes to playing for us on the weekend,” when he was questioned about the current state of fitness of the three individuals. It is possible that Federico may train with us today or tomorrow, but Diogo will not be doing so. Conor Bradley, on the other hand, we will check to see whether he is able to be with us tomorrow.
According to Slot, Alisson is making good progress in his recovery from his hamstring injury; nonetheless, he does not anticipate that he will return in the near future. Slot believes that it is too soon to evaluate the state of the Brazil goalkeeper’s recuperation, and he is not likely to return until after the international break that will take place the following month.
“It is always difficult to judge him because it is not a short-term recovery,” he added. “He is progressing well despite the fact that it is not a short-term recovery.” I believe that the greatest time to evaluate an injury is when it is in the final phase of the patient’s recovery, and he is not yet in that phase.
It is impossible for me to tell you how long he will be out of action, but you should not anticipate him to play in the cup match against Brighton the following week.
Following the completion of their material evaluation by Chelsea, Slot anticipates that Arsenal will present Liverpool with the most difficult task they have faced to yet. According to him, “I said before the game and after the game that I expect a lot from Chelsea this season, and I think they showed it last Sunday at Anfield.” He made this statement both before and after the game.
They have a playing style that is comparable to that of Arsenal, which is quite close. In addition, they frequently play with their full-back inside the box, mirroring Arsenal’s shape in this regard. When you consider the previous two seasons, Arsenal was not just much ahead of us, but they were also ahead of Chelsea.
Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that facing Arsenal will be even more challenging than playing Chelsea, but let’s wait until the conclusion of the season to see where Chelsea and Arsenal stand. In a normal situation, you would assume, particularly due to the fact that it is a game away from home, that it is even more challenging than Chelsea’s home game, and we all witnessed how challenging Chelsea was.
The four games that Liverpool played against Arsenal and Manchester City resulted in them gaining only three points, which caused them to fall farther behind in the fight for the championship. Slot acknowledges that two of these games are crucial.
According to what he stated, “We all know that taking points from your competitor is always important, and we all know that Arsenal will be one of them.” He also mentioned that “taking points from your competitor” is really crucial.
“So you are correct, and I believe that Liverpool finished the previous season with three draws and one loss; therefore, if Liverpool had been able to win all three of those matches, the league table would have been a little bit different.”
