Arne Slot says a ‘positive set-piece balance’ and solid defensive performances helped Liverpool overturn a poor run of results and claim back-to-back victories over Aston Villa and Real Madrid.
The reigning Premier League champions emerged as winners at Anfield on Tuesday night, beating Real 1-0 with a performance far more convincing than the scoreline suggests.
There were many positives for Slot to take from the Champions League encounter, with Florian Wirtz undoubtedly enjoying his best outing in a Liverpool shirt, and full-backs Conor Bradley and Andy Robertson putting in solid displays against Real’s superstar frontline.
Xabi Alonso’s side were lucky to concede just once at Anfield thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who made eight saves, four from inside the box, denying Liverpool several goalscoring opportunities with stunning efforts between the sticks.
The only goal of the game came from a second-half set piece, as Alexis Mac Allister headed Dominik Szoboszlai’s free kick past Courtois just after the hour mark, handing Liverpool their first back-to-back wins since September.
Arne Slot Lauds ‘Impressive’ Liverpool Win
Hugo Ekitike and Alexis Mac Allister celebrate
Slot, speaking in his post-match press conference, lauded Liverpool’s ‘impressive’ victory on Tuesday but stressed that his side only beat Real Madrid thanks to a set piece.
The Dutch tactician said a strong set-piece record is often what makes the difference against top sides and praised his team for taking advantage of theirs against Real Madrid:
“Impressive, because we played against an incredible side, a team that is in an unbelievable run of form - only lost once, won all the other games.
“If you then can win against them, but also with the performance we had, that's very positive. But apart from everything we can say, we beat them because of a set-piece.
“It's nicer to talk about this if you win because if you lose, people come up with that I try to find excuses.
“But a positive set-piece balance is the minimum you need to get a result nine out of 10 times, and that's what we had today.”
Slot was also asked to compare Tuesday’s victory over Real with Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday, which had ended the Reds’ four-game losing streak in the Premier League.
He admitted both Real and Villa played similarly against his side and praised Liverpool for a ‘very solid defensive performance’ in both games.
The Dutch tactician explained how he adjusted his defensive approach at Anfield to counter the threat of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr.’s deep runs:
“I think both teams played quite similar against us. Maybe the difference was that I told the players today that I wanted them to either press really high or go to a low block, because Vinicius and Mbappe are for so many reasons incredible players but their deep runs, timing of deep runs, their pace is next level.
“So don't give away any space in behind and that's what our last line did very well tonight.
“A very solid defensive performance in both games. But it also helps if you are not one goal down or two goals down, because if you are one or two goals down you need to take extra risk, you need to force much more.”
Liverpool endured a tough run of results before returning to winning ways last weekend, losing six of seven games in all competitions.
The Anfield side lost ground in their Premier League title defence to Arsenal, who have opened up a seven-point gap to Liverpool after losing just once in the first 10 games, courtesy of the Reds' 1-0 win at Anfield in August.
Slot’s side claimed their third victory of the Champions League campaign on Tuesday, with a 1-0 loss to Galatasaray in September remaining their only slip-up.
The Reds beat Atletico Madrid 3-2 on the opening matchday of their European season and also enjoyed a 5-1 routing of Eintracht Frankfurt last month, where Wirtz registered two assists against his former club –his only goal contributions for Liverpool in the competition.
Liverpool next host Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday in their final match before November’s international break.
The Reds will be looking to continue their unbeaten streak against Pep Guardiola’s side, having not lost any of their last four meetings, including two victories last season.