Programme notesArne Slot: The best teams don't admire their work - they keep on pushing

The leaders host the reigning champions at Anfield (4pm GMT kick-off) holding an eight-point advantage and buoyed further by a 2-0 defeat of Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek.

“Let me start by saying Wednesday was a special night for this club,” Reds head coach Slot writes in his matchday programme column.

“To defeat a team like Real Madrid so many things have to come together – the performance of the players, the atmosphere created by the crowd, the preparation, the desire. It was all there. This is not to say it was perfect, because as a coach you are always striving for a perfection that might not even exist, but all of the ingredients you would want were in place.

“I liked a lot of what I saw. Again, not everything, but a lot. One of the things I liked most was that everyone from players to supporters saw the victory for what it was and that is another step forward on the road to where we want to be. This isn’t to play the win down or to make it less important. But as I said afterwards, it was a group-stage win and not a victory in the later stages or the final. Of course we can enjoy it and we did enjoy it, but we know also that there is still work to be done.

“It is also worth remembering that Real remain the best team in Europe. They won the Champions League last June and this makes them holders.

“It is a similar situation with Sunday’s opponents, Manchester City, who are the holders of the Premier League having won the title four years in a row. The calibre of these teams speaks for itself and that is why this is such an exciting week with us being able to play both of them in a matter of days.

“I would like to welcome Pep Guardiola, his staff and the players and supporters of Manchester City to Anfield. In terms of trophies won, there is no question that City have been a dominant force in English football for several seasons. Yes, they are our rivals, but even within this rivalry we can definitely find room to respect their achievements and qualities.

“It is an interesting time to play City because so many are questioning them at the moment. I am not one of them. This is not to ignore their recent results, because clearly they have not been of the usual standard, but City still have one of the best managers in the world – if not the best manager in the world – numerous top-class players and a culture of success, which means they cannot be written off even in times of adversity.

“To be very clear, they remain one of the best sides not only in this country but also in the world and we have prepared for this fixture on that basis. Of course we get to take our own belief into the game and we will definitely do that, but we also arrive with the knowledge that our performance will have to be as good, if not even better, than it was on Wednesday night.

“We should not be surprised that we are in a good position, though. The squad that I inherited is one that has been high-performing for several seasons.

“It is not new to them to be challenging the likes of City and Real Madrid. It is what they have done for some time. But the challenge for them – for us – is not only to keep challenging, it is to show that we can continue improving in everything that we do. This is what the very best teams do. They do not stop and admire their work. They keep on pushing themselves.

“Finally and importantly, Sunday is a day when Liverpool FC as a club will show our support for the LGBTQ+ community by demonstrating our backing of Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign.

“This is something that we do proudly and passionately because football is for everyone and has to be for everyone.”

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