Arne Slot will make his first competitive appearance at Anfield as Liverpool manager on Sunday when his team host Brentford but has insisted he is not nervous about making his mark at the hallowed ground.
Liverpool kicked off the Slot era in style with a 2-0 win at Ipswich Town last weekend, their first competitive match without Jürgen Klopp at the helm in nine years, and the Dutchman knows he has big shoes to fill in replacing the much-loved Klopp.
“I’m hoping the fans can be twice as loud as the Ipswich fans. I am not nervous at all, certainly not at this moment because I’m in the middle of preparation, prepare the team for Sunday and no nerves,” Slot said told a news conference on Friday.
“It wouldn’t be a good thing if you have nerves. I trust what me and my staff do to prepare the team in the best possible way.”
Slot added that he has much still to learn about his squad despite a productive preseason.
“I’m learning every day about the players as individuals and how they play together,” Slot said.
“I learnt last weekend how the players that didn’t play on Saturday trained well on Sunday. They brought in a good training session. That will help them and us. I am still learning new things with the players. It is normal, I have only worked with them for three weeks.”
Slot is expecting a stiff challenge from Brentford, particularly after they signed Liverpool defenders Sepp van den Berg and Fábio Carvalho.
“I think they’ve brought in talented and good players. Both of them wanted to continue their journey of playing time, It was a good deal for us and Brentford,” Slot said. “Hopefully, they don’t do too well [against Liverpool].
“[Brentford coach manager] Thomas Frank is doing a really good job. It’s going to be a challenge for us.”
Brentford kicked off their campaign with a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.