Slot relishing Liverpool's Real Madrid, Man City double-header

Arne Slot is relishing Liverpool's upcoming double-header against Real Madrid and Manchester City.

Liverpool came from behind thanks to Mohamed Salah's second-half double to beat Southampton 3-2 on Sunday.

That victory at St Mary's moved the Reds eight points clear of Man City, who were thrashed 4-0 at home by Tottenham on Saturday for a fifth straight defeat in all competitions.

Pep Guardiola's team visit Anfield on December 1, though first the Reds host European champions Madrid in the Champions League.

And Slot cannot wait for Liverpool to go up against two heavyweights.

"It's what you need in a league like this, with so many quality teams. You have to keep winning because if you don’t, the other ones will," the Dutchman told BBC Sport.

"That's what we try to do every game, now it's Real Madrid and next Sunday it's Man City.

"You couldn't wish for more than playing these two games in the upcoming week, at home."

10 - No manager in Premier League history has reached 10 wins in fewer matches from the start of their career in the competition than Liverpool's Arne Slot (12 games, level with Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti). Smooth. pic.twitter.com/diyxChwNI1

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 24, 2024

No manager in Premier League history has reached 10 wins in fewer matches from the start of their career in the competition than Slot (12 games, level with Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti).

Liverpool were indebted to Salah, however, with the forward dragging them level and then converting the winner from the penalty spot after Mateus Fernandes had put Southampton into a surprise lead early in the second half, following goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Adam Armstrong before the break.

Salah became the first player to score in five successive Premier League appearances for Liverpool since the Egyptian himself in October 2021 (seven in a row). His second goal was his 100th away from Anfield for Liverpool in all competitions.

"It was very good that Mo scored in that moment," said Slot of Salah's first goal, which came in the 65th minute when he nudged Ryan Gravenberch's pass beyond the stranded Alex McCarthy.

"It was not the best period of the game so he helped us with that and then afterwards we dominated so much, they got tired.

"That is what special players do. They can score goals out of nowhere. It's not completely out of nowhere because the assist of Gravenberch is a great ball as well, but Mo is known for the timing of his runs, he feels the right moment to run behind the last line, and normally you know he’s not offside because he always finds the right moment, and then he scores the goal, which was very helpful for us."

Southampton 2-3 Liverpool FT Arne Slot makes it 10 wins from 12 to start life in the Premier League - the joint-fewest games any manager has needed to reach 10 wins in the competition. Victory takes Liverpool eight points clear at the top of the table #SOULIV pic.twitter.com/0XeT3qZYtY

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) November 24, 2024

While Slot acknowledged Liverpool were tested by the Premier League's bottom club, he felt his team were always in control.

He added: "It wasn't a surprise for us, we saw how they played against Man City, Arsenal and Newcastle in away games, never mind how they would play in a home game against a top team. But we dominated. Because we went down 2-1, it made it really difficult for us.

"We dominated the whole game, which is not that easy against Southampton because they want possession, they want to dominate the game as well, but they couldn't. Because the scoreline was as it was, it felt like a difficult match, but if you look at the underlying numbers we deserved to win."

Those metrics support Slot's point. Liverpool accumulated 2.9 expected goals from 27 shots, 11 of which were on target, while they also limited Southampton to 37.9% possession.