Liverpool continued their superb first season under Arne Slot this week with a 1-0 victory away at Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. The Reds will now host PSG in Tuesday's second leg at Anfield as firm favourites to progress to the quarter-finals of the competition.
But before that, attention turns back to the Premier League where Liverpool sit 13 points clear at the top of the table. And the Reds host bottom club Southampton at Anfield looking to strengthen their position before fellow challengers Arsenal travel to Manchester United on Sunday.
The Saints are stranded on nine points at the bottom of the table after a nightmare season in which they have won just twice.
Liverpool are without Joe Gomez, Conor Bradley and Tyler Morton but Slot will give an update on Cody Gakpo, who missed the trip to Paris with a knock picked up in training. Slot will hope to have the Dutchman fit enough to play a part after an impressive season saw him notch 16 goals so far.
The ECHO's Paul Gorst will be at the AXA Training Centre to provide live updates, reaction and analysis of what Slot has to say before the meeting with Southampton.
Slot on luck
If you think injuries are a part of luck or bad luck then we have been lucky but we believe that we can prevent them through working. So that is not luck for us that we don't have many injuries, top pros stay fit and we have great faciltiies and staff. If we can continue this for years then it is probably quality. Although you cannot go through a season in this country without injuries, Alisson, weeks, Jota 4 months, Trent, Bradley, Gomez is out now for three months, so you cannot do it. It is the amount of injuries you try to prevent."
Slot on Southampton
We have to act differently than the second half against Wolves but it was also their quality too. They have had a better season than the table. Southampton take risks all over the pitch, so if you are not sharp or aren't aggressive enough, they can hurt you. Wolves had nothing to lose in the second half and it's hard to play through it. If you did it once or twice in the right way, you can create something. We saw this v PSG."
Slot on Gakpo
He didn't train y'day yet, let's see if he can train today. A close call, not a long-term one but had some pain y'day. Let's see where he is today."
Slot on managing squad
It's difficult to measure emotional toll of games but you feel it and take it into account, you can only look at the data, they run as much as other games but they runs they have had to make are more from a negative mindset than when you have the ball yourself. So we take that into account and 3/4 months without a break...of course, I was happy with the goal we scored - it gives us a good advantage - but mentally it helps as well. Three finals to be played this week, so a week to look forward to for all the fans. I hope, I truly hope, the fans will be at their loudest tomorrow, not in the final or PSG but tomorrow.
"I have to convince my players we play 3 finals and I hope that I influence our fans a bit too, they cannot come in five mins before kick-off, I hope it is filled half an hour before kick-off and the players get their reward for their performance. I see their creative songs, let's hear them tomorrow! I am in the crowd tomorrow..."
Slot on goalkeeper situation
He has great competition with Kelleher, so if that is what drives him then it helps for a No.2 to have, but Ali is just a top professional and they know what it means to wear this shirt. You always know if you are a player here; if you don't do well, someone else will do the job. Jaros is talented as well, so goalkeeper-wise we are in a good place."
Slot on touchline ban
I think I have the same opinion, 5/10 years ago now we have iPads, so I have the same view, so it is not neccessary to have a suspension to get a good view. The view is better '[higher up] but you feel the emotions down by the pitch. Where I am sitting tomorrow, it is an 'easy game' to play but down by the pitch, it's harder. I have a good replacement with John Heitinga, he did so well in his first game."
Slot on hunger of squad
It's not the headline Mo was frustrated but his behaviour was normal, we shook hands and maybe he thought he'd score the one chance that might come...People say good sub as Harvey scored but Mo would tell me he would have scored that too! A normal reaction [to being taken off]. All of them show great character and we need that tomorrow. They are not playing as a team who are bottom, they take risks, go man-to-man and they saw how difficult we had with that gameplan against Paris. "
Slot on squad
I see the advantages o playing with the same team but I am aware you cannot play the same 11 every week, so I have rotated. Others don't get the time they deserve, Elliott is a good example, but he is competition with Salah and Szoboszlai. Mo was not happy I took him and he can score for us whenever it's not his best game, that is why I hardly take him off. Dom is a machine, runs the most every time, that is what makes it hard for Harvey, that is why I liked what he did so much. Some players are frustrated if they only get 5 mins but it has hardly ever happened."
Slot on selection
I don't think that far ahead [past games]. You do know what to expect from PSG and Newcastle but Southampton is the most important. 3 or 4 days between, I might start the same 11 but only two days between and we had to fight really hard, it's probably the 50 game in 3 months! so you take it all in account, which players are best suited. We started with Diaz and Jota and Diogo is almost a midfielder as a striker and then we finished with Curtis off the left who is a midfielder and Nunez who is a 9.
You guys are only focused on PSG so far but Southampton have the same formation so we need to do much better to press the ball, so it is another good test for us"
Slot on PSG game
A long question! But we weren't a litt bit lucky, we were really lucky but as Michael Jordon said once: the harder you work, the luckier you get. We were not the dominant team but we controlled them better in the second half. We were mentally and physically so strong, not giving away many open chances and even scoring on the counter shows how mentally and physically strong this side are.
Is our name on the cup? If you want to win something, PL, CL or Cups, you need, once in a while, where you don't play your best and you are 'lucky'. No team plays 38 games only with football. Real Madrid one of the best example of that, they always find a way when the other team is better. My full focus is now on Southampton, the first of 3 finals for the upcoming week.
"For me, the Southampton game the most important of the week, if IF i make the choice to play others, it's because I think it is the best choice to win the game. So if I make a change it's because it's only 2 days in between games, so I might think others are better options but that only has to do with us having a bigger chance to win this game not PSG."
Slot on Alisson
He saves shots! That is important but to become the world's best you make saves others don't and he had one or two of them on Weds. In general, it was exaggerated, he didn't have to make 27 saves but had two world-class saves for us."
Newcastle not appealing Gordon red
Eddie Howe on Newcastle's decision not to appeal Anthony Gordon's red card that rules him out of the Carabao Cup final:
We discussed it as a club, with the respected people that we need to discuss it with, lawyers. We just felt that there probably wasn't sufficient grounds.
"There's no intention from him to hurt anybody. But you have to look at it and go 'does this have a chance of being successful?' - if there's no chance of being successful, what's the point of appealing? So Anthony understands."
The Magpies would surely not have been successful with any appeal but that confirms now that Gordon is 100% out of the final next week.
Gakpo latest
We'll hopefully get a (positive) update on Cody Gakpo after the Netherlands international missed Wednesday's win over PSG with that ankle issue.
The way Gakpo hoisted aloft Alisson Becker at full time suggests the injury isn't too severe at this stage but we will have the latest, I am sure.
He's been a big player this season, Gakpo. So fingers crossed he is clear for a return.
Morning
Morning all and welcome to the AXA Training Centre for the latest Arne Slot press conference.
The Reds are back in Premier League action tomorrow afternoon, with a rare 3pm kick-off against relegation-threatened Southampton.
It feels like a gimme, right?
We're sure Slot won't quite see it that way.
The Reds boss is with us from 10am.
Good morning!
Hello Reds, good morning and bienvenue to our LFC liveblog for Arne Slot's press conference today.
Still on a high after PSG? Well there's little time to wait until Liverpool's next match, with Southampton visiting Anfield.
Paul Gorst is on his way to the AXA Training Centre so stick around for live updates.
