Arne Slot pinpoints Liverpool blueprint moment after making Jurgen Klopp joke

Arne Slot joked his Liverpool players had joined predecessor Jurgen Klopp in “hating” 12.30pm kick-offs – as he highlighted the moment he believes encapsulates what he’s trying to achieve with his new club.

Second-half goals from Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah ensured the Reds a 2-0 win at promoted Ipswich Town in their Premier League opener on Saturday.

Former Liverpool boss Klopp had been a long-time critic of lunchtime kick-offs with many noting the coincidence of the Reds being handed one such fixture for Slot's first competitive game in charge.

And after watching his team labour throughout the opening 45 minutes before posting a much-improved performance after the break, Slot admitted he’s already learned much from the experience.

“When I started here, there were many things that have been told to me but one of them was that Jurgen hated the 12.30pm kick-off!” he said.

“And today the team showed that we hated the 12.30pm kick-off because we were not in the game in the first half.

“The second thing people told me is that there are no easy games in the Premier League. We showed that today. If you play against a newly-promoted team, they can make such a fight out of it – as they did in the first half – and make it so difficult for us.

“That is why it is important to have weeks like the upcoming ones (with no midweek games) where we can work with the team to prepare them even better than we did today. Because the first half was not good enough, the second half was a really good performance.”

Liverpool could have secured a greater margin of victory during an impressive showing after the interval, with Slot pointing to one flowing move that ended with Luis Diaz lifting the ball over the bar from close range as an example of his attacking intended approach.

“For the Liverpool supporters, I don’t think this is the first time in nine years they have seen the team playing very well,” he added.

“I inherited a very, very good team with a lot of great individuals. But these players have to understand it is not enough what they brought in the first half.

“If they bring the maximum capacity, then they can play really good. That’s what they showed in the second half today.

“It was good to see the goals we scored. But I think the attack, that will probably be on Match of the Day tonight, that did not end in a goal was the nicest one.

“That was the one Lucho just hit over the bar. That is what I want to see the team do more and more and more if they can.”