Mo Salah: Arne Slot disappointed with Liverpool's first-half performance

Despite going behind early in the game, Liverpool turned things around in the second half to secure a 3-1 victory.

The visitors took the lead when Will Smallbone pounced on a defensive error between Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk. However, Liverpool responded swiftly, with Darwin Nunez scoring the equalizer just six minutes into the second half. Salah then netted two penalties to seal the win for the Premier League leaders.

Salah, who has now moved to third place in Liverpool's all-time top scorers list, admitted that Slot's frustration was evident during the half-time talk.

"There was some frustration," Salah told Premier League Productions after the match. "His head was in his hands for us. We were sloppy and slow in the first half. I don't think we played well today. If you want to win the Champions League or Premier League, you have to win matches like that."

Slot, who was watching the match from the stands due to a two-match touchline ban, also expressed his displeasure with his team's first-half performance in the post-match press conference.

"I didn't offer any compliments at half-time, I can tell you that," said the Dutch coach. "Maybe I can say it's because I was sitting up there instead of being on the sideline. When you watch the game from there, you always feel like, "Ah, even I could play in this game,' but when you're on the sideline, the tempo is higher."

"I don't think I was wrong in saying that the energy levels were far, far, far too low at half-time. That needed to change, and that's why we made three substitutions - to not just add energy, but also to bring in quality."

Slot also highlighted that taking off three players can often lead to the remaining team members feeling like something needed to change.

"Nine out of 10 times, when you substitute three players, the others feel like something else should happen. That was the only thing I could think of at half-time to create a different dynamic for the second half."

With the win, Liverpool now hold a commanding 16-point lead at the top of the Premier League, having played one more match than second-place Arsenal, who are set to face Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.

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