Arne Slot makes 'very fortunate' claim as Liverpool boss explains Mohamed Salah substitution

Evening Standard

·23 Oktober 2024

Arne Slot makes 'very fortunate' claim as Liverpool boss explains Mohamed Salah substitution

Reds continue perfect Champions League record with win over RB Leipzig

Arne Slot admits Liverpool are “very fortunate” to have an understudy quite as good as goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.

Video OneFootball

The Republic of Ireland international has made little secret of his desire to establish himself as a No.1 and has been thrust back into the first-team following Alisson Becker’s hamstring injury.

Kelleher pulled off a number of fine saves as the Reds maintained their perfect record in the Champions League this season with a vital 1-0 victory away at RB Leipzig, a result sealed by Darwin Nunez’s first-half goal.

Asked about the Irishman after the game, Slot told TNT Sports: “Very fortunate. it's also a normal thing at a club like ours that you have very good players in every position. Ali was out last season and out this season again. It's not only him. We have players who are not always in the starting lineup who did it again today."

The Reds boss also allayed any injury fears after opting to take star forward Mohamed Salah off just after the hour mark, stressing the decision was made with the hectic fixture list in mind.

“We have some injuries now, so I have to take good care of the players who have played a lot,” he said.

“Mo is one of them and Sunday [vs Arsenal] is a big game coming up again.

Mohamed Salah played for just over an hour as Liverpool beat RB Leipzig

Liverpool FC via Getty Images

“I need to use as many players as I can use for these tough weeks and months – because it’s not only weeks, there’s tough months coming up – so they are all prepared to play.”

Liverpool next head to Arsenal in a huge Premier League clash on Sunday, knowing three points at the Emirates Stadium could open up a seven-point gap on the Gunners.

Mikel Arteta’s side could well be missing a number of key players but Slot believes they remain a huge challenge for his table-topping team.

“We have to play that game and we know how tough Arsenal are especially in their own stadium. Arteta has done an amazing job in the last few years and we have to be on top of our game to get a result."