Q&AArne Slot press conference: Fulham threat, Nunez support, Alisson boost and more

The Reds host Marco Silva’s side at Anfield on Saturday afternoon as they return to domestic action following the midweek victory over Girona in the Champions League.

Ahead of the 3pm GMT kick-off, Slot sat down to discuss a range of topics with reporters at the AXA Training Centre.

Read a round-up from the press briefing below…

On where Mohamed Salah ranks in terms of the best he has worked with after his goals and assists this season...

And in general working really hard with the team for the ball when we don’t have the ball! That is something that was not on your list but what is really important for us as a team as well. I work with a lot of quality players over here and Mo is definitely one of them, but he is also one of the ones who should score goals like the other attackers that we have. He is also part of the fact why we keep as many clean sheets as we do because we defend with 11 and we attack with 11. He is one of the ones that is the end product of one of our attacks and he’s doing that really well for years in a row already for Liverpool. Let’s hope we can continue doing that in the upcoming weeks as well.

On being able to produce ‘positive’ results even when his team aren’t at their best like at Girona…

If we wouldn’t have conceded the amount of chances we conceded I think I would’ve put a bit more positives about it [but] now we also relied on our goalkeeper. If you don’t play well but you hardly concede anything, that is still a very positive thing. There were also still a few positives to take. The amount of shots we blocked, we defended some situations a bit better or different than we did against Newcastle, and the second-half performance was already better than the first half, or we controlled the game much better than the first half. If a game is not that good, you can’t concede the amount of opportunities that we gave away in the first half. With opportunities it also means the amount of times they could go over our midfield and just keep on running until our 18-yard box. If you play against even better teams, that will harm you at a certain moment.

On whether the game in midweek provided a reminder of the level required for his team...

I don’t think we need one because these players have been outstanding in every single game. This wasn’t our best performance, but it was still good enough to win a Champions League away game. We’re going to face Fulham now, who have done really well this season and we should have a much better performance against them than we had against Girona to be able to get a result.

On how dangerous Fulham are as an opponent after taking points from other teams near the top of the table...

Because of that reason - definitely. You can only take away points from these teams if you have a lot of quality yourself and you have a good game or a good game plan, and that’s what they have. They work really hard as well when they don’t have the ball, which is one of the reasons not to concede goals and that is what they’ve done against Arsenal. I think they only conceded from a set-piece against such an attacking threat such as Arsenal. That probably tells you how well they are organised and structured. They beat Brighton as well, which is a team that is so, so comfortable with the ball. Probably they’re able to defend really strong - not probably, they’re able to defend really strong. They always have the threat of being a threat on the counter-attack because of the fast players they have up front and the goalscoring abilities they have over there as well.

On how much of a boost Alisson Becker’s return is to his team...

Hopefully. Hopefully the amount of time he needed and that we thought he needed to get him back on his best possible level also helped us for the long term, so that he is not only there for a few weeks. But it is something that has to be shown in the upcoming weeks and months that he will stay available. He worked really hard together with our performance and medical staff to get where he is now. Hopefully he doesn’t get the same amount of work every game he plays but if he does then he has showed that he is able to do that in a real good way for us.

On Darwin Nunez…

For me he has impacted [the team]. If you only look at goals, yeah, he hasn’t scored the amount of goals he wants to score or we want our No.9 to score, but he does have impact in his work-rate and that’s not only for the other team: not to create a chance but it’s also for us, if we lose the ball and he is then aggressive that we can get the ball back and still create our chances. So, he is part of a team that is scoring a lot of goals and winning a lot, but of course as a No.9 you want to score more goals and that’s definitely what he wants as well.

But, until now, I am not only judging Mo on his goals, I’m not only judging Darwin on his goals, I also judge them on their work-rate and what they bring to the team [and] that has been positive until now, except for us and he himself wanting to score more goals. Maybe mainly also because the fans support him so much, maybe he wants it even too much, to score that goal for himself and also the fans because they have been very supportive for him.

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On Nunez feeding off the fans’ support…

Yeah, it definitely does [get him going]. But not only for him, I think all the players feel the support of our fans but he’s definitely one of them and if you are in a good place… so, Mo, for example, he is scoring so many goals, he likes the support of the fans but he probably doesn’t really need it at the moment. But what I like about fans, about special fans, is that they are not only supportive if it’s going really well for a player, but especially if he maybe needs that support and that is what makes these fans of ours special, in my opinion.

On the differences between Liverpool and the Premier League and Feyenoord and the Eredivisie…

The good thing is I already worked at a top club. I already worked at a top club [but] the difference is that it’s all a bit bigger over here, so the training ground is a bit bigger, the country is bigger and we have to travel longer and that takes more effort. And the quality of the league is much, much, much higher than the quality in the Eredivisie, which makes every game a battle to get your points because at the former top club I worked at, Feyenoord, seven out of 10 [games] we could easily win. But here it is 10 out of 10 games that are difficult to win. That is the main difference, in my opinion.

On whether he is looking forward to playing over Christmas for the first time in his career…

I was always happy that in the Premier League the teams played because when I was off you were always like, ‘Oh, there is no football on television,’ but there was because in the Premier League they play. So, I was always very happy that in the Premier League they played. Now, when you are in this league you sometimes feel, OK, a few days, a few weeks off would be - maybe not good for me because I had my days off during the international breaks when the national teams played - for the players definitely beneficial, to have one or two weeks off. But it is not the situation and before we played Girona we had to play Everton and when that game was cancelled I was like, ‘OK, maybe that’s a good thing, maybe we will have more energy now to play in Girona.’

So, it was a bit of a surprise for me to see us not having that energy in Girona as we usually have, so maybe it is a good thing for us that we play so many games. Actually, I am looking forward to it. My family is coming over so Christmas Day will be similar to normal except for the fact that last year I was in Dubai, so a bit more sun! Now I am here in Liverpool I am hoping to enjoy a home game against Leicester, which is maybe a different way to spend Christmas but it’s also a way I am looking forward to.