Arne Slot said he will take a lot of confidence from his Liverpool side’s resilience after seeing them come from behind to beat Brighton 2-1 and go back top of the Premier League.
Liverpool were second best in the first half and fell behind to a fine strike from Ferdi Kadioglu, with Georginio Rutter and Danny Welbeck spurning chances to add to their lead before the break.
And they paid the price as Liverpool looked a different side in the second half, with two goals in three minutes from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah turning the game on its head.
On a day that both Manchester City and Arsenal lost, Liverpool went back to the top of the table – two points clear of City – but Slot was more interested in what he had seen from his own side, pointing both to this performance and last week’s recovery in a 2-2 draw away to the Gunners.
“It’s not because they lost, but what I do like is last week we were two times one goal behind against Arsenal, 1-0 and 2-1, and two times we were able to fight back,” he said.
“In this game we were 1-0 down at half-time – I think we deserved to be – and then to come back so strongly against a quality team, to come back the way that we did gives me a lot of confidence.
“But I also said to the players the 45 minutes of football we played in the first half, that will punish you somewhere. We need to show up from the start.”
Slot insisted there was no angry half-time speech to inspire Liverpool’s comeback and said that, aside from a couple of tactical tweaks, the credit belonged to the players.
“First of all credit to Brighton for the way they showed up here with composure, not afraid to play out from the back really well, and with a lot of energy without the ball,” he said.
“We didn’t show up at all in every part of the game, maybe except for set-pieces. Against a good team like Brighton it is not enough to run once, twice, three times, you have to keep on running.
“We changed a bit of tactics but that was nothing to do with us coming out stronger in the second half. It all had to do with the players, they showed a different attitude and intensity.
“I said a few things but I wasn’t screaming or fuming. It’s just making sure the players understand this was not enough and I think they felt themselves that way.”
Brighton played some excellent football, particularly in the first half, but a week after blowing a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Wolves Fabian Hurzeler was again left frustrated.
“In the end football is always a game of results and we need results for the process,” the Brighton boss said. “We have to understand how to get results.
“The performance was good enough to win this game easily, especially in the first half, we had a lot of moments where we should have scored a second or even a third goal and then the game is completely different.
“But then in the second half we had two or three moments where we weren’t precise enough and we lost 50-50 duels and we got a bit affected by the atmosphere.
“These things are important experiences to learn from to get the results you deserve in the end. There is the balance, the performance is good but in the end we are a club with ambitions and we need to get results out of these games.”
Liverpool lost Ibrahima Konate at half-time, with the defender nursing his left arm as he left the pitch, but Slot said it was too early to assess the extent of the injury.
Interim boss Stephen Frail expects Motherwell to appoint a new manager next week and admits their first job will be to lift the players’ confidence after a 3-0 mauling at home to Ross County.A double from Ronan Hale and Connor Randall’s last-minute strike secured an impressive victory for the Staggies at Fir Park.Defeat sees the Steelmen drop into the bottom half of the Premiership tab...
Mark Hughes heaped praise on goalkeeper Gabe Breeze after Carlisle picked up a vital point in the League Two relegation battle with a goalless draw against in-form Colchester at Brunton Park.Breeze made two excellent saves from Lyle Taylor as the Cumbrians ended a four-game losing run and the former Man City boss was astounded by the 21-year-old’s performance.He said: “The game had som...
Chesterfield boss Paul Cook launched a scathing attack on his play-off hopefuls after they surrendered an early lead to lose 3-1 at Sky Bet League Two table-toppers Walsall.The Spireites enjoyed a rapid start when Jamie Grimes’ eighth-minute header put them ahead against a wobbling Walsall side, who were winless in five matches with the chasing pack closing in.However, Bim Pepple and Dylan D...
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has allayed fears of an injury scare to top scorer Erling Haaland ahead of next week’s Champions League trip to Real Madrid.Haaland went down clutching his leg in the latter stages of the champions’ 4-0 Premier League thrashing of Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and was immediately substituted.Losing the Norwegian would be a major blow to ...
Rotherham manager Steve Evans described Thomas Parsons’ performance as “atrocious” after the referee awarded a stoppage-time penalty from which Reading snatched a 2-1 victory in League One.Reading had led 1-0 at half-time through top scorer Harvey Knibbs but Sam Nombe levelled for Rotherham from a spot-kick in the 57th minute.With the game heading for a draw, Parsons adjudged Mil...
Michael Flynn believes his team can make a charge towards the League Two play-offs places after watching them come from 2-0 down to beat Barrow 3-2 at home.Matty Taylor scored twice before fellow substitute Ashley Hay hit the winner as the Robins continued their perfect home record in 2025.Cheltenham climbed to 13th in the table and sit eight points off seventh-placed Crewe with two games in hand....
Birmingham manager Chris Davies praised Jay Stansfield’s work ethic after he lit up St Andrew’s with the only goal of a 1-0 win to sink play-off chasing Charlton.Stansfield’s 23rd-minute strike stretched City’s lead to nine points ahead of second-placed Wycombe, with Blues boasting a game in hand.Victory was City’s 30th in all competitions as they extended their unbea...
Andoni Iraola refused to get carried away after Bournemouth fans were left dreaming of a potential Champions League adventure following a first league double over south-coast rivals Southampton.Travelling Cherries fans chanted of playing in European football’s premier competition next season after their side soared to fifth spot in the Premier League table thanks to a deserved 3-1 success at...
Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup praised his side for fighting back to draw 1-1 at Hull after he demanded “I want to see my football team back”.The Norwich boss had some tough words for his team as they trailed 1-0 at half-time to the relegation-threatened side, including for Kellen Fisher – but the player then delivered the assist for Josh Sargent’s equaliser.The Un...
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says Jota has a chance of starting against Bayern Munich after scoring and impressing in a 3-0 victory over Dundee United.Jota earned the club’s man-of-the-match award after cutting in from the left and curling home from 18 yards to double the lead given to the hosts by another impressive finish from Callum McGregor.The Portuguese winger has now started two gam...
