Arne Slot believes his decision to rest players in the FA Cup can now prove of benefit for Liverpool in the Premier League
Arne Slot hopes Liverpool can now feel the benefit of his controversial FA Cup team selection at Plymouth Argyle as they look to strengthen their grip on the Premier League summit. The Reds are at Aston Villa on Wednesday night aiming for the victory that would put them 10 points clear of second-placed Arsenal, who would have a game in hand.
It represents the mid-point of a pivotal run of five top-flight games in 15 days, having already drawn 2-2 at neighbours Everton last Wednesday before beating Wolves 2-1 at home on Sunday. The Reds travel to champions Manchester City on Sunday before entertaining fellow League Cup finalists Newcastle United three days later.
Slot attracted huge criticism for his decision to field an unrecognisable side for the FA Cup fourth-round clash at Plymouth earlier this month, which Liverpool lost 1-0 to the Championship strugglers having been without 11 first-team regulars.
And the Reds boss is adamant that despite signs of tiredness in the second half against Wolves, his players have demonstrated they are capable of coping with the demanding ongoing schedule.
“You take many things into account for a line-up,” said Slot. “The way Villa play, the amount of games we play, were the players tired (against Wolves) or did they just have to run a lot?
There was a reason why these players were maybe a bit tired at the end on Sunday and that was the emotional game we had to play on Wednesday evening (at Everton). That cost us a lot of energy.
“For the rest of the season these players have always shown after two or three days that they are able to play again. That’s why I didn’t play them at Plymouth as well, for them to be ready for these five games in a row. Many arguments go into making a line-up, so we will see.”
While Cody Gakpo could be back for the visit to City and both Joe Gomez and Tyler Morton are ruled out with long-term injuries, Curtis Jones is available after serving a one-match suspension
Liverpool could come up against Marcus Rashford, who is on loan at Aston Villa from Manchester United for whom he has scored seven times against the Reds.
And Slot added: “As you see sometimes when a new manager comes in, certain players start to play much better. You also see this sometimes when players go to different clubs.
You mention Rashford now but Antony isn’t doing bad at Betis too. I’ve always said that United have a lot of quality players for a number of years now. Some of them show it at United now and some of them show it somewhere else. But Rashford is one of the best attackers that England has in my opinion, if he plays to his ability.”
