Arne Slot, head coach of Liverpool during a training session at AXA Training Centre on March 31, 2025
The morning after the night before. And rather than buzzing at a memorable Merseyside derby triumph, there was very much a sense of business as usual around the AXA Training Centre on Thursday morning.
There was a warm handshake from Academy coach Jay Spearing. Reds skipper Virgil van Dijk exchanged pleasantries with a few assembled hacks. Jayden Danns, still recovering from the back problem that has delayed his loan move to Sunderland, was there continuing his rehabilitation.
And, a few minutes later than his advertised arrival, Arne Slot strolled into the media room at Kirkby, very much with the expression of a boss more than pleased with the efforts of his players barely 12 hours earlier.
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But far from being nervous or excited at the prospect of a Premier League title that edged near with the 1-0 win over Everton, there was a tangible calm around the training ground. And, for Slot, that was also evident in the manner Diogo Jota remained composed to net the only goal on Wednesday evening.
"I think that is one of his most special qualities," said the Reds boss. "Most players, if they come into a situation where they think they can score, they get a bit mixed up in their head. But Diogo can stay really calm in those moments and recognises where he has to shoot and where the defenders are and what the goalkeeper might expect. He is calm in those moments, Mo is an example too.
"This season he started really well but we missed the best possible Jota for five or six months. He was out for three or four months and it took him a while to get back and I see that with almost all our players who've been injured. It takes a while to get back to Premier League level.
"They are fit, they train but the difference between good and excellent is only small. Apparently you need to have a run of games to come back to excellent again."
With Liverpool needing only a maximum of 13 points from their remaining eight league games to be crowned champions, already some are attempting to predict when rather than if the title is claimed.
Slot, though, is adamant the Reds are sidestepping such theorising and simply concentrating on the next game, which is at Fulham on Sunday.
"We felt again yesterday how hard it is to win a Premier League game," he said on Thursday morning. "Yes, we won it and are very are happy but (Everton manager) David Moyes deserves a lot of credit for how difficult they made it for us and every single team since he has arrived there. (They were) nine games in a row unbeaten, so we know how hard it is to beat them.
"That tells you that with eight games to go, every one is a challenge, starting with Fulham on Sunday who are having a very good season as well. We are not working on theories about how many points (we need), we are taking on the challenge of Fulham on Sunday where we have to be at our best again to get a result."
While Fulham have faltered since the international break - dumped out of the FA Cup at home to Crystal Palace and then beaten at Arsenal on Tuesday - they stand only six points off the top four after an impressive campaign under Marco Silva, with the Cottagers earning a 2-2 draw at Anfield in December against a Liverpool team reduced to 10 men early on following the sending-off of Andy Robertson.
"The memory I have of that game is they should have had a red card in the first half as well but didn't get one," said Slot. "That did cost us points, but my main memory is we played incredible with 10 men.
"If we have the same effort and intensity with 11, we give ourselves a chance to win against Fulham. But I also remember the first 10-15 minutes when Fulham started very well when it was still 11-v-11. They are a good team and have more than a few threats."