Slot’s Anger at Girona Win Reveals the Incredibly High Standards He Has Already Set at Anfield | OneFootball

Once upon a time, an away win in the Champions League was considered a good result… irrespective of the opponent or the manner of the victory.

But Arne Slot was raging after Liverpool’s 1-0 victory at Girona in the sixth round of Champions League action… a result that booked the Reds’ passage into the last 16 of the competition.

And it shows the impeccable standards he now sets for himself and his players, which can only be a good thing.

Reign In Spain

Those that bet on Champions League football perhaps won’t be surprised to see Liverpool installed as the 4/1 favourites to lift the famous trophy this season.

The Champions League betting tips columns might just be focusing on an all-English final too, with Manchester City (11/2) and Arsenal (13/2) sandwiching Real Madrid (6/1) in the betting.

The 1-0 win in Girona made it a perfect six from six in the Champions League for the Reds, which will see them enjoy a safe passage into the knockout phase of the competition.

Mo Salah secured the victory with a second half penalty, although Liverpool did make heavy weather of seeing off their Spanish opponents, who came out on top as far as the open play expected goals count was concerned.

Girona fired in 13 shots at Alisson, with five of them on target, with a couple of good goalscoring opportunities going begging.

All of which meant that Slot wasn’t a happy bunny, despite the result. “What wasn’t I pleased about? I wasn’t pleased with a lot,” he told a post-match press conference.

A lack of intensity in Liverpool’s pressing and a loss of control were his main concerns, while bemoaning that ‘every time we lost the ball, we were not aggressive enough and they could go almost all the way to our goal and have a shot.’

If the boss is like that even after a win, it bodes well for the rest of the campaign…

Double Delight?

Liverpool are now favourites to win both the Premier League and the Champions League this term.

That would be a tall order, of course, particularly when you consider how relatively thin the Reds’ squad depth is. A spate of injuries, or the traditional festive fixture pile-up, could yet yield a downturn in results.

But there’s no doubt that Liverpool are justifiably favourites in the Premier League in particular, with their 2.5 points per game average (after 15 rounds of action) enough for a final tally of 95 points if extrapolated across the entire campaign.

For context Chelsea, in second place, are currently operating at 2.06 points per game… that would only land them 78 points if continued across the rest of the season.

As for the Champions League, well, knockout football can be brutal and brutally unfair at times, so it will take the perfect blend of quality and luck to get the job done on the continent.

But right now, it looks as if only Liverpool can prevent themselves from picking up a second Premier League title.