Gary Lineker has opened up on what it was like to spend some time with Liverpool head coach Arne Slot this week — with the Reds boss playing padel with the Match of the Day presenter and offering some insight into his high-flying team.

Liverpool has become the first team to top the new Champions League standings and heads into another big weekend of Premier League action six points clear at the top of that table too. Facing Bournemouth tomorrow, the Reds could move nine clear of their nearest rival before the Gunners take on Manchester City on Sunday.

"Assuredness, a confidence, you can see how organized he is, how he understands the game really well tactically," Lineker said on the Rest Is Football podcast. "The calmness as well, I thought, was interesting because a lot of coaches are kind of energetic, and you don’t see that from him.

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"But what struck me the most about being inside the training ground was the culture and the way everybody was. You would expect this when things are going really well, but there was a real kind of joy about the place, a bit of camaraderie.

"All of the players came down to say hello, or most of them. They’ve got a really good culture there and that’s one of the great testaments — and Slot said this himself — to Jurgen Klopp and what he left behind there. But I think what comes across most about Slot is his absolute love for the game and the tactical side of the game."

The Dutchman has lost three games as Liverpool boss so far but the PSV defeat midweek didn't matter and the 1-0 loss to Spurs in the Carabao Cup could yet be overturned in the second leg of that semi-final. It is no wonder, then, that he Liverpool boss is relaxed.

"Slot asked me if I played padel, but I’d never played it, I didn’t even know the rules," Lineker explained. “So, I said why not. He was great actually. He just basically taught me the rules and we had a knock about, he had me running around because he’s a good player!

"But what a lovely guy, Arne Slot, genuinely, he gave me so much time. We went and sat in the changing room and just chatted football for half an hour with him and his coaching staff."

Liverpool.com says: So far, Slot is proving to be the ideal fit for Liverpool. On the field things are going well but off it, there appears to be an assuredness to him that you can never 100 per cent know will happen before you put someone into such a big role. Up to now, he has looked like a natural for the position, with plenty more still to come.