Arne Slot praised Liverpool’s resilience after his side battled to a 2-1 win over Everton in the Merseyside derby at Anfield.
Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike struck in the opening half hour to put the champions firmly in control. However, Idrissa Gueye’s goal early in the second half sparked tension, forcing the Reds to dig deep to maintain their perfect Premier League start.
Slot admitted the derby demanded more grit than flair as fatigue set in during the closing stages.
“We needed mentality today in a different fashion maybe than the few times before,” Slot told the press after the match. “But we always knew how difficult a game this would be, let alone if you have proper preparation time. But if you played your third game in less than seven days, against your rivals, then you know that the second half could be very tough – and that’s why I made my line-ups throughout the week as I did, for the players to be ready for this one because this was the most intense from the three, we knew this before.
“You could see how well we can play if we are fresh – the first 45 minutes, unbelievable, the way we played. But the second half was more difficult because of Everton, of course, but also because we ran a bit out of energy. But we didn’t run out of mentality.”
Liverpool have now won three games in a week, including victories over Atletico Madrid and Burnley. The gaffer believes squad depth was key in handling the demanding schedule.
He added: “This is also the reason why teams like us, Chelsea, all the ones that are playing in Europe need a squad like this, because you need to play so many games. Again, it’s not an excuse, we have to accept it as it is, but we have had some issues, with Alexander Isak not training for four months, [Alexis] Mac Allister missing out a lot – I can go on and on and on.
“But the good thing is I do have the options to rotate throughout the week and the ones that played three times 90 are Virgil [van Dijk], Ibou [Konate], Mo [Salah], Ryan and Dom [Szoboszlai], the ones that are used to this intensity at this level, and again they showed up really good.”
The win keeps Liverpool’s flawless start alive and highlights both their quality and endurance under the manager’s guidance.
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