Arne Slot sends Liverpool message ahead of Manchester United showdown

Arne Slot admits his Liverpool team still have "a lot to prove" after they made it successive Premier League victories this season with a 2-0 win over Brentford on Sunday. But the Reds' head coach says he has been encouraged by a positive start that has seen them score four goals without concession.

Goals from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah were enough to see off Thomas Frank's side as Slot marked his first competitive home game in charge with a relatively straightforward win.

The result sees the Reds up to third in the Premier League, level on points with leaders Manchester City and Brighton and Hove Albion, who beat next Sunday's opponents Manchester United on Saturday lunchtime at the Amex Stadium.

Asked to sum up his team's display on the day and start as a whole following the 2-0 triumph at Ipswich Town last week, Slot said: “Two good wins against difficult opponents. Brentford had a very good opening game last week but there’s still a lot for us to prove with the whole season coming up.

“Both Ipswich and Brentford deserve respect for the way they have played against us, but we are not expecting them to be in the top six this season. There’s still a lot to prove for us but it’s always good to start with two wins and two clean sheets.

“It was positive for many reasons. Brentford showed last week that they can play out from the back really good. They tried to do it here as well and sometimes looked better than other moments, they are also threatening on the counter-attack and a big threat on set-pieces.

“The only threat they had today was the set-piece when Alisson saved us in the second half. It was also pleasing to see from their set-piece we scored our first goal."

Slot added: “It’s nice to inherit a team and individuals who are so special. that’s what you saw in the first goal. Lucho (Diaz) finished it off really good, but Mo won an important duel around the 18-yard box.

“Those are the margins in football. If he’d have lost that duel maybe they’d have maybe got a shot on target, he won the duel and then we could counter-attack them and then Diogo Jota gave a great pass at the right time and it was a great run from Lucho and he finished it off really well.

“If that’s what I could do then I’d speak to everyone and tell them to score more goals! It’s not about that, it’s about making sure these players like Lucho, Mo, Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez, Diogo, all the attackers, we bring them as much as we can in good positions and then they can show their quality.

“The nicest example of that was the moment when Mo set up three, four or five combinations in and around the 16. We don’t train these things, it’s just the quality of the players. We just try to get them as much as we can in those positions, and if they don’t have the ball then we have to work really hard for the other team not to create a chance, and I think we saw that today.

“It’s not so difficult to do it once or twice, we need to do it 10 times out of 10 and that’s still what we have to show. I inherited a team and we tried to keep a lot almost the same and try to adjust maybe one or two things where we think we can win.

"If Jurgen Klopp would have stayed he would have tried to find these one or two things where he could improve the team. But it’s not a surprise this team plays like this, and it shouldn’t be a surprise for you, you saw them playing like this many times this season."