As Liverpool prepare to welcome struggling Leicester City to Anfield on Boxing Day, Reds manager Arne Slot is taking nothing for granted despite his side’s scintillating recent form. The Dutchman, who masterminded a 6-3 demolition of Tottenham last time out to move four points clear at the Premier League summit, remains acutely aware of the threat posed by Foxes boss Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Slot and Van Nistelrooy are no strangers, having locked horns in the Eredivisie when the former was guiding Feyenoord to the title in 2022-23. The Leicester manager’s PSV Eindhoven were one of only two teams to defeat Slot’s champions that season, triumphing 4-3 in a pulsating encounter. It’s a memory that still rankles with the Liverpool boss.
I was expecting you to tell people over here that I lost once and drew once but you made it positive, saying that we won the league title, which was true,
Slot quipped in his pre-match press conference.
Van Nistelrooy, a Premier League icon from his prolific spell leading the line for Manchester United, has endured a testing start to life in the Leicester dugout. Back-to-back heavy defeats to fellow strugglers Wolves and mid-table West Ham have left the Foxes languishing in the relegation zone. But Slot, who described his counterpart as a “nice person” and a “good manager,” is expecting a stern examination from a Leicester side scrapping for their lives.
Slip-ups against Spurs a warning
For all Liverpool’s dominance against Tottenham, Slot was less than impressed by the manner in which his side took their foot off the gas in the closing stages, allowing Spurs to notch a couple of late consolation goals. It’s a lapse in concentration he’s determined to avoid a repeat of against the Foxes.
Hopefully that’s a good thing about these 15 minutes, that we must understand we cannot underestimate one minute in the Premier League because then we are not as good as we might think we are if we are on top of our game.
With talismanic defender Virgil van Dijk still sidelined and the likes of Ibrahima Konaté and Conor Bradley also out injured, Slot knows his patched-up rearguard can ill-afford any drop in intensity against a Leicester attack spearheaded by the evergreen Jamie Vardy.
Chance for fringe stars to shine
Liverpool’s growing injury list may be a cause for concern, but it also presents an opportunity for some of the club’s exciting young talents to step up and stake their claim. The likes of Stefan Bajcetic and Ben Doak have caught the eye in their fleeting first-team appearances to date, while summer signing Fábio Carvalho will be champing at the bit for another chance to impress.
Carvalho’s fellow new recruit Darwin Núñez has begun to find his feet after a sluggish start to life on Merseyside, notching a brace against Spurs to take his tally for the season to five. With first-choice forward Luis Díaz facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines, the onus will be on the Uruguayan to maintain his newfound form and ease the goalscoring burden on Mohamed Salah.
Chance to turn the screw
With Arsenal not in action until New Year’s Eve and Manchester City facing a tricky trip to Leeds, Boxing Day presents a golden opportunity for Liverpool to really turn the screw at the top of the table. Maximum points against Leicester and at home to Brentford three days later would guarantee the Reds top spot heading into 2025 and ask some serious questions of their wavering title rivals.
But Slot, as his wariness of Van Nistelrooy and Leicester underlines, is not one for looking too far ahead. For now, his sole focus is on getting the job done against the Foxes and ensuring Liverpool sign off a memorable 2024 in fitting style. If they can maintain the standards they’ve set in recent weeks, few would bet against them doing just that.
