Arne Slot couldn’t assist however burst out laughing on the first query which was put to him at his press convention on Friday morning.
The Liverpool head coach addressed the media forward of his workforce’s showdown in opposition to Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday, with the 2 everlasting rivals in wildly contrasting kind and positions going into the fixture, which Gary Neville is brazenly dreading.
Whereas the Merseysiders have a six-point lead on the high of the Premier League (and a sport in hand on second-placed Arsenal), the Pink Devils are languishing in 14th after delivery 5 top-flight defeats over the previous month.
Slot laughs off options about squad rotation
Slot was requested by one reporter at this morning’s press convention whether or not, given Man United’s well-documented struggles and Liverpool’s hectic January fixture calendar, he’s planning to relaxation some gamers on Sunday.
The Reds boss might solely giggle at that suggestion, replying “That’s a wierd query!” earlier than gathering himself a number of second later and persevering with (through Liverpool FC on YouTube): “No, in fact I’m not planning to relaxation any participant, as a result of it’s a giant sport.
“I mentioned it earlier than the primary fixture and I can say it yet another time that they’ve a lot better gamers for my part than perhaps the league desk reveals in the meanwhile.
“It’s going to take some time perhaps for Ruben Amorim to convey this out of the gamers, I don’t know, however they’ll undoubtedly [improve] and they’re much, a lot, a lot better than the league desk reveals in the meanwhile.”
No surprise Slot was bemused!
Relaxation gamers in a league fixture in opposition to Man United halfway by the season when there’s nonetheless a lot at stake? No surprise Slot was laughing at such a suggestion!
Sure, Liverpool have a wild fixture calendar this month and have gathered simply over double the variety of factors that their opponents can boast, however solely probably the most conceited or silly of managers would even dream of possibility in opposition to fielding their strongest XI in a sport like this with such an intense rivalry.
The Reds may have had a full week to organize for the go to of their arch-rivals, so the gamers will already be properly rested when Amorim’s aspect come to city, and the house aspect could be unwise within the excessive to assume that the guests will likely be something aside from massively motivated to bloody our noses.
United had been dominated for big spells of their three matches in opposition to us final season however didn’t lose any of them, with two top-flight attracts and a fortuitous FA Cup victory, so no person at LFC must be reminded of the risks of complacency.
The febrile historical past of this fixture signifies that, even when it had been a gathering with no nice consequence for both aspect in that individual competitors, neither supervisor could be allowed to deal with it with ambivalence.
Relaxation assured that Slot will likely be naming his strongest doable XI on Sunday and may have his gamers fired as much as strengthen Liverpool’s title ambitions whereas additionally inflicting extra distress on our Manchester rivals.
