With Arne Slot at the helm, Liverpool have had a solid start to their Premier League season. However, the Dutchman will be up against his first big test as he is set to take on the club’s longstanding rival, Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Under Slot, Liverpool has been maintaining the high-octane brand of football that the club have been displaying since Jurgen Klopp’s exit. But now with a new man in charge, it will be interesting to see how he tackles the pressure of playing in the iconic ‘Theatre of Dreams’.
The Merseyside club have been dominant in both attack and defence, winning both their games against Ipswich Town followed by Brentford. Both the games were won 2-0 indicating that the team are still solid in both key aspects.
However, Man United will have slightly better quality in midfield. Albeit not the best, the sides are definitely among the better midfield units when comparing the names. Bruno has been stellar in terms of his attacking output, Kobbie Mainoo has been consistently delivering for the club while Casemiro has had a rocky stint with the club but has an immense record at the highest level.
Liverpool’s midfield on the other hand might be lacking on the defensive aspect. Both Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis MacAllister are better known for their attacking output. But the side is yet to find that out-and-out #6 to focus on interceptions and ball circulation.
Wataru Endo has been decent during his time with the club but it seems that Slot would rather opt to use the Dutchman Ryan Gravenberch as the holding midfielder. An interesting move which could backfire on them come the big games against the top six.
To compensate for that hold, Slot has opted to use Diogo Jota up front who is a prolific finisher and can do the hard yards by coming back to contribute on the defensive side of things.
Nonetheless, everyone will be keen to see how Slot stacks up to the challenge set by Erik ten Hag. Both men have had successful periods in the Eredivisie but it is yet to be seen if they can handle the English challenge of competing on all fronts.
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