Liverpool suffered just its second defeat of the Arne Slot era on Wednesday night as it was beaten 1-0 by Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup semi-final.

It’s also the first time since the Dutchman’s appointment that Liverpool has gone two games without a win. That we’re in the new year underlines how incredible Slot’s start at Anfield has been, but there is no sense of panic from inside the dressing room.

Unsurprisingly, it’s Virgil van Dijk leading the sense of calmness. The personification of composure, the Liverpool captain led by example once again at Spurs with an excellent display. His leadership qualities were on show all night, whether it was telling Jarell Quansah to relax after an early error or pleading the team’s case to referee Stuart Atwell after Lucas Bergvall wasn’t sent off.

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He also put the recent run in perspective and is not concerned at all by a slight drop in standards over recent games.

“I’m not sure we were a level or two [below our best] but obviously at times I think we could have done better,” the center-back told Sky Sports after the match.

“But that’s part of football as well, you try to play your best game ever, every one of us, and at times we played through them nicely and we created some one-v-ones on the side and we created some dangerous moments.

“But they were able to defend it much better than they did when we played here a couple of weeks ago. And, yeah, we move on – we take it on the chin. Like I said, it’s half-time and we have another 90-plus minutes to go and like I said, I am really looking forward to that.”

The last point is the most important and Slot will hope Van Dijk’s stress-free outlook proves infectious. A one-goal lead heading to Anfield won’t offer Tottenham much comfort ahead of the second leg, and Ange Postecoglou will know it’s unlikely his team will be able to book a place at Wembley without netting in the reverse meeting in four weeks’ time.

That shouldn’t be a problem for free-scoring Spurs, although keeping the ball of its own net may prove more difficult for a side who, prior to Wednesday’s meeting against an understrength Liverpool, had kept just one clean sheet in the last 11 games.

Tottenham’s last shutout against Liverpool came in 2015, its last at Anfield in 2012. The Reds have won five of the last six meetings at Anfield, while Spurs' most recent win at Liverpool came nearly 14 years ago. Van Dijk’s right, there’s no need to worry just yet.