Slot Not surprised By Liverpool’s Good Performances

London: Liverpool manager Arne Slot admitted he was not surprised by his team’s excellent start to the season, as he was already aware of the strength of the team he inherited when he arrived at Anfield as Juergen Klopp’s replacement.

Slott’s side, who have won 14 out of 16 games in all competitions since he took over, are expected to remain at the top of the Premier League when they host Aston Villa in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Liverpool now have a two-point lead over defending champions Manchester City.

They are also top of the Champions League group as the only team to win four games from all meetings.

“I think ‘surprised’ is not the right word because I know the quality of our team.

“But quality is one thing and consistency is another. I’m not surprised because I see the energy my players give every day.

“Sometimes, a bit of luck helps. Most of our results were deserved but there were a few close matches,” he added.

“(Also) when I started working with them, I saw how hard they worked to achieve this result,” Slot told reporters.

Slot does not expect striker Diogo Jota, who has been sidelined since Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Chelsea on October 20 due to injury, to return until after the international break.

Slot did not elaborate on Jota’s injury and stated that it had to keep the cause a secret.

“He will be back one or two games after the international break,” he said.

Curtis Jones, named in interim England manager Lee Carsley’s squad for the upcoming internationals, has been in excellent form in recent weeks.

Jones created a beautiful pass for Luis Diaz to score in Liverpool’s 4-0 Champions League win over Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday.

Slot said Jones has stepped her game up a notch since the birth of her daughter, Giselle, on Oct. 13.

“Since becoming a father, he’s started to perform really well,” Slot said.

Chelsea Is The Real Test For Nistelrooy

LONDON: Manchester United pressed the ‘reset’ button again after the dismissal of Erik ten Hag, with the team now under Ruud van Nistelrooy hosting Chelsea in the English Premier League this Monday.

Ten Hag was sacked after the team’s fourth defeat in nine league games saw United now 14th in the table – 12 points behind leaders Manchester City.

Nistelrooy was appointed as interim manager until Ruben Amorim left the Portuguese club, Sporting, who is reported to be taking over at United after the international break this November.

Nistelrooy, who has scored 150 goals with United, took over the task in a positive way when he scored a 5-2 victory over Leicester City in the League Cup last Wednesday, but Chelsea are clearly not an opponent to be underestimated.

Under the management of the new manager Enzo Maresca, the young squad seems to shine for Stamford Bridge to be back in the Champions League scene.

Chelsea are currently fifth in the league with Cole Palmer the mainstay of the team after scoring seven goals and providing five assists this season.

They are also looking to improve their poor record against United – who have only lost to Chelsea once in their last 13 Premier League games.

It became the basis for Maresca to research and do ‘homework’ to analyze Nistelrooy’s management when he was in charge of PSV Eindhoven before.

“I think Ruud (who steers United). He is my friend, we play together, we were together for a year at Malaga and we still have a relationship,” said Maresca.

“We started watching some PSV games. We’ve seen a lot of Manchester United games. I’m sad for Erik and at the same time happy for Ruud. Hope I can see him this Sunday.”

Man United Sacked Ten Hag

LONDON: Manchester United have sacked their manager, Erik ten Hag, following a poor start to the season with the English Premier League giants languishing in 14th place after nine games.

The decision to sack the manager from the Netherlands comes after two and a half years in charge of The Red Devils and yesterday’s 1-2 defeat to West Ham saw them record just three wins.

“Erik ten Hag is leaving his role as first-team manager of Manchester United,” the club said in a statement.

“Ruud van Nistelrooy will run the team as interim head coach, assisted by the current coaching team, while a new permanent head coach will be appointed.”

The position of the 54-year-old Dutchman was the subject of speculation for much of last season as United recorded their worst finish in the Premier League after finishing eighth.

However, a surprise win in the FA Cup final over Manchester City and coupled with the fact the squad was dealing with a host of injury problems gave the Ten Hag a ‘lifeline’.

He signed a new contract to extend his stay until 2026 and gets the chance to revive the 20-time English league champions.

The early results of the season however hint that Ten Hag will not achieve that.

Dortmund Need Luck Against Real Madrid

MADRID: Borussia Dortmund will need more than just a strong mentality to face Real Madrid in the Champions League action early this morning, said its coach, Nuri Sahin after last year’s two finalists met again this season.

Real Madrid lifted their 15th European trophy at Wembley after late goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Jr gave them a 2-0 win.

“Mentality alone is not enough to face Real Madrid, let alone play in this stadium against the champions of this competition,” said Sahin.

“We need everything. We need high quality and high confidence, a mentality other than what we say in German, the luck of the competition.”

Dortmund maintained their excellent record in the Champions League so far as they opened the campaign with a 3-0 win over Club Brugge before thrashing Celtic 7-1 at home.

They currently lead the competition with a record nine goal difference.

“We have to (continue playing) collectively to face Real Madrid,” said Sahin.

“They know our plans for this game. We want to be brave and continue the momentum in these two games.”

Paraguay Surprised Brazil 1-0

ASUNCION, Paraguay: Brazil lost for the fourth time in five World Cup qualifiers after Diego Gomez’s goal gave Paraguay a 1-0 win in Asuncion.

Five-time world champions Brazil, who beat Ecuador 1-0 last Friday, are now fifth in the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup on 10 points, ahead of Venezuela on goal difference.

Only the top six teams will qualify for the World Cup held in the United States, Mexico and Canada, with the seventh-placed team having to go through another qualifying round.

Dorival Jr, who took over the Brazil squad from Tite after the team was knocked out in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, saw his side overcome by Gomez’s 20th-minute goal.

“The coach is still looking for the best way for us to play and it is evident in the results of the matches.

“A lot of new players, we’re not confident enough. It’s not easy to qualify, it’s a difficult period and we have to know how to deal with it.

“Now the phase of change, we are not confident enough. We have to work hard, getting results on the field is the best answer,” said Brazilian defender Marquinhos.

Brazil will continue their qualifying campaign next month against Chile and Peru.