Arne Slot learned he and Jurgen Klopp don't like same thing after Liverpool win

New Liverpool gaffer Arne Slot couldn't help but nod to his forerunner, Jurgen Klopp , when discussing the difficulty of those early kick-offs following a hard-earned win at Ipswich.

Mohamed Salah continued his run as an opening match talisman, nailing his ninth consecutive first game scorer's feat thereby setting a new Premier League record, while also setting up Diogo Jota with the Reds' opener. Despite the victory, Slot was anything but pleased with the team's first-half display and made his dissatisfaction clear, especially after witnessing his side getting outplayed by a determined Ipswich.

With a tactical switch at half-time which saw young prospect Jarell Quansah substituted, Liverpool turned around with a bolstered second-half performance that left Slot beaming. He quipped after the match: "I learned today why Jurgen Klopp didn't like 12.30 kick-offs! I didn't like them at half-time!"

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Acknowledging the challenging nature of the Premier League, he emphasized: "I also learned that it's true that there are no easy games in the Premier League and that we need to play like we did in the second half if we want to win."

Aggression from the opposition seemed to catch Liverpool off guard, leading Slot to address his squads competitive edge - or lack thereof. "We lost far too many duels. They were very aggressive which led to three yellow cards but they were aggressive in a good way.

"We didn't cope with that well enough in my opinion. I said at half-time, 'if you want to win here you need to step up in terms of winning your duels first and make a fight out of it'. When we started winning our duels that gave us a lot of possession and led to our two goals."

Regarding Salah, who's seemingly still at the top of his game at 32, Slot acknowledges the Egyptian's enduring brilliance but deflected contract talk, focusing instead on upcoming fixtures: "If you are OK, I am looking now at Brentford and not the end of the season. If I see what he [Salah] does to keep his body as it is and be ready to play every game, there are many more years inside of him to play."

When asked if Salah could once again be Liverpool's star player this season, the Dutchman responded: "I don't believe that much in one man, I believe in the team more than the individual. He [Salah] can score his goals because of good runs, good assists. Mo also needs the team but we also have more creative individuals who can decide the game."