Arne Slot reacts to Mohamed Salah scoring his 250th Liverpool goal as the Premier League champions beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Anfield
Liverpool's Egyptian striker #11 Mohamed Salah (R) celebrates scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Aston Villa at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on November 1, 2025. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Mohamed Salah (R) is congratulated by his Liverpool team-mates after his landmark goal broke the deadlock against Aston Villa
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Arne Slot says it's "almost unbelievable" that Mohamed Salah has been good enough to score 250 Liverpool goals. It comes after the Egyptian reached the milestone in Saturday's 2-0 win over Aston Villa.
The defending champions ended a losing run of four Premier League games with victory over with Salah opening the scoring at the end of the first period following a mistake from goalkeeper Emi Martinez, who gifted the Reds forward possession when trying to play out from the back.
Ryan Gravenberch scored Liverpool's second goal shortly before the hour mark to give them a much-needed success ahead of a week that sees them entertain Real Madrid in the Champions League before a trip to Manchester City.
Speaking after the game, Slot was full of praise for Salah and the latest record as he became just the third player in Anfield history to reach 250 goals, after Ian Rush and Roger Hunt.
“It is huge," the Reds head coach said. "It’s almost unbelievable he has scored 250 goals at one club. Scoring 250 goals is already unbelievable, let alone at one club. You don’t see it that much in football anymore.
“Apart from the goal he scored tonight he had a very good performance. When we had to play long we played mainly long towards him and he could hold the ball and because of that the rest of the team could come to him and we could keep playing.
"What I also liked is that he didn’t only do his offensive work really well, but he helped the team out defensively as well.
"After the 1-0 he was helping Virgil (van Dijk) around the halfway line and this combination of things led to me liking his performance tonight. It’s special for him to score 250 but for him to score is not special as we always know he will score."
On Salah's growing relationship with Conor Bradley, who started at right-back once more, Slot added: “The more players play together, the better they will be. You cannot compare Trent (Alexander-Arnold) with Conor, but Conor played an outstanding game like many others.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 01: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team's first goal with teammate Conor Bradley during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Aston Villa at Anfield on November 01, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Conor Bradley congratulates Mohamed Salah after he scored Liverpool's opening goal against Aston Villa
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"The team performance is what made the difference today, everyone was really fighting to get the win over the line, throwing themselves in front of shots, sprinting back when needed, being ready for a high press.
"There were a lot of positives to take also from individual performances like Conor’s. The challenge for him now is to make himself ready as he’s not been used to 90 minutes a lot this season. After two days of rest the next one is coming up.
“It was like in Frankfurt and the comparison between these two [games] is that we were leading both. In other games we have mainly after five minutes been 1-0 down and you get a completely different game.
“I think everybody liked how we controlled the game and were passing and playing through them. When you are 3-1 down and you do the same and it doesn’t lead to a chance or a goal, people get more annoyed.
“You can’t compare a game where you are 2-0 up and one where you are 3-1 down when it comes to control.
“We prefer to see us being 2-0 up and having a bit more control. When we need goals, we need to be more open and as a result of this you sometimes are open to the counter-attack.”