Man Utd name checked twice by Liverpool boss Arne Slot after dramatic 2-0 win at Brentford

Liverpool manager Arne Slot twice made reference to his side’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United at Anfield earlier this month after a dramatic 2-0 win for the Reds at Brentford on Saturday afternoon.

Darwin Nunez scored twice in stoppage time to boost Liverpool’s title hopes and secure their first win over top-flight opposition this year. At the start of the month, United held Liverpool to a 2-2 draw on Merseyside as Ruben Amorim’s men delivered a gutsy display to claim a deserved point. Liverpool followed that game up with a loss to Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup and a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest - with a 4-0 win over Accrington Stanley sandwiched in-between.

Slot discusses Man Utd draw again

Asked after his side won 2-0 at Brentford, Slot was asked if he had any doubts if the goals would come for his side. As he answered, he said he felt the performance was not much different to the ones against United and Forest where Liverpool dropped points but they were games Slot felt his team could easily have won. The Reds created 2.86 xG (exepcted goals) against the Red Devils while United’s xG was 1.67. Harry Maguire did miss a golden chance late in the game but Slot again pointed to chances Liverpool created in the wake of their win over Brentford.

Asked if he had any doubts if Liverpool would score against Brentford, he said: “Yes, of course I had doubts about that because before we scored the two goals it felt as if I was looking at the same game again and again and again and in the same pattern. I said it already a few times in other interviews that against [Manchester] United everybody was focused on the [Harry] Maguire chance but [in] the seven minutes before we had three open chances.

“So many times in recent weeks – against Tottenham as well – we missed a lot of chances, against [Nottingham] Forest we missed a lot. So, it would have been a bit surprising if I felt, 'OK, after all these chances missed today, we will probably score in the last five minutes.' But the players proved me wrong again.”

He added: “I focus on my own team, so let's not focus on the teams we faced. But if you look at the amount of chances created and I think you are all a bit aware of xG, do me a favour and look back at our United game and see what the xG of both teams was, and do this against Forest and do this today. Then you will probably see that nothing has changed with us between now and the first half of the season.

“What you do see is that at this moment of time it's harder for us to convert our chances into goals – that's not only up to us, that's also because teams throw themselves in front of every ball every time we get a chance, so many of the other teams try to prevent us from scoring because all of them are in a low block. So, I have a different opinion than you about our current performances but we have the same opinion about our results.”

Slot praises United

Despite pointing to the draw on Saturday, Slot was complimentary to United in the wake of the Anfield clash. He said: “We played against very good individuals, very good players, I’ve said it many times now and I think you could see it again today. It’s also a chance for them, against us, to show themselves against us, more than against Wolves at home or other games, so now they can compete with the best players in the league.

“Bruno Fernandes is a very, very good player. He played a very good game today as well and they’ve shown many times, United, that when things are really difficult, they can show up. The FA Cup final against Manchester City. They did cause us some problems… Dalot was a threat as well on the left side. We are talking about two starters of the Portugal national team so that’s why it’s not always easy to prevent them from getting in dangerous situations. This happened a few times today and, unfortunately, that led to two goals.”