Richard Morgan, Sky Sports: Slot fitting in seamlessly at Liverpool | OneFootball

New Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has settled in seamlessly to the “unenviable task of filling Jürgen Klopp’s giant shoes”, says Sky Sports’ Richard Morgan.

Slot, who led his previous club Feyenoord to a second-place finish in the Eredivisie last term, guided the Reds to a 2-0 victory over Ipswich Town on the opening weekend of the Premier League season and will take charge of his first competitive game at Anfield on Sunday against Brentford.

What did you make of Liverpool’s pre-season and opening game of 2024/25?

Pre-season went well, with the side unbeaten, including hugely encouraging wins over both Arsenal and arch rivals Manchester United.

The latter was a comprehensive 3-0 victory that showcased some of the side’s attacking capabilities under new boss Arne Slot.

And that form was carried on to the opening-day win at newly promoted Ipswich Town when, after an unconvincing first half at Portman Road, the Reds stepped up the pace after half-time to look more like the team of last season.

However, there is still clearly much to work on, with Slot looking forward to a whole week on the training ground with his entire squad now back on Merseyside ahead of Brentford’s visit to Anfield on Sunday.

Arne Slot replaced Jürgen Klopp in the summer - how have the fans taken to him?

Positively so far! It is still clearly early days, but the Dutchman appears to have settled in seamlessly to the unenviable task of filling Jürgen Klopp’s giant shoes.

Slot is obviously different in many ways, but there are also many similarities between the two.

At the end of the day, it really just comes down to how many games he can win as Reds boss.

Are you concerned that Liverpool have not signed anyone in the current transfer window?

Not especially, given Slot has two players for every position to select from, with all of them of international standard, and it is virtually the same squad that ran Manchester City and Arsenal so close last season, apart from Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip, who barely featured due to injury last time around.

If there is one area Liverpool do need to strengthen in, that is the no.6 position. They have been trying to add a player for a few years now, without success.

Seeing Real Sociedad’s Martín Zubimendi recently reject the chance to join the club was without doubt a blow, leaving Slot to now make do with the likes of Alexis Mac Allister, Wataru Endo, Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch to fill the void.

Which player should Brentford fans be keeping an eye on?

Mohamed Salah has come back from his summer break in Mykonos in great shape, as always, and if his sparkling opening-day display at Ipswich was anything to go by, then Brentford’s defence will need to keep close tabs on the Egypt forward at Anfield on Sunday.

How is Slot likely to set up his side at Anfield?

Much how Klopp would have, in a 4-3-3 shape, with Ibrahima Konaté likely to come in for Jarell Quansah in the heart of the Reds backline after coming on to replace the England defender at half-time at Portman Road.

Other than that, expect the home side to line up exactly as they did against Ipswich in terms of formation and personnel.

What’s your score prediction?

I am going for 2-1 to Liverpool, with Salah on target once again.