Arne Slot Won’t Rotate Against Manchester United – Confirms Player Updates as Games Pile Up, as the Dutch also sympathize with the Red Devils manager ahead of their clash at Anfield.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has ruled out resting players for Sunday’s visit of Manchester United despite the tight schedule his team have been plunged into. The Reds welcome the Red Devils to Anfield for their fifth game in 14 days, with a Carabao Cup semi-final with Tottenham looming large on Wednesday.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Slot said, “No, of course, we won’t plan to rest players. For me, they have much better players than maybe the league table shows at the moment. It might take a while for Ruben Amorim to bring this out of the players, but they are much better than the league table shows.”
The Liverpool boss also provided an update on his squad, confirming that Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley are back in training, while Joe Gomez will be out for a number of weeks with an injury. “Joe [Gomez] is not in a good place when it comes to his injury, he’s out for a few weeks,” Slot explained. “Conor [Bradley] and Ibou [Konate] will train with us today for the first time. They’ve worked hard to come back for the team. The next step is how they’ll handle team sessions.”
The returns of Konate and Bradley add to Liverpool’s depth ahead of the high-stakes encounter against Manchester United. Slot was also pleased with Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, while acknowledging that neither is at the full peak of their form yet. “He’s 32 and can still do things better. It’s hard to say because he’s done such great numbers. I saw Mo walking off against West Ham a bit frustrated after missing chances. Trent can still improve, but these players are top of the world so there isn’t much room,” Slot commented.
Not only did he address his own squad, but Slot also came out in support of under-fire Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim, who has faced criticism after a poor start to life at Old Trafford. Amorim has won just four of his opening 11 matches as United boss, with his team on a four-game losing streak in all competitions. Yet Slot believes his fellow manager will get it right.
“Every manager sympathizes with every other manager,” Slot said. “We all know how much pressure this job brings. It is something we like. Like I said, he’s done so well at Sporting and I think he has a good squad of players so he will eventually bring the best out of them.”
Liverpool will be seeking to extend that fine run of form against United on Sunday as they go in chase of top honors this season.
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