Arne Slot said he made three half-time changes to spark his Liverpool team into life and it paid off as they came from behind to beat Southampton 3-1 at Anfield.
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After their midweek exertions at Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League, where they edged a 1-0 win, a lacklustre performance meant the league leaders went into the break trailing the bottom side by a goal.
Slot, who was serving a touchline ban and watched from the director's box, brought on Andy Robertson, Alexis Mac Allister and Harvey Elliott at the break and his changes had the desired impact as Liverpool equalised through Darwin Nunez on 51 minutes before taking the lead through Mohamed Salah’s penalty three minutes later.
"It's a sign of a good team that you can win in different ways,” Slot told BBC Match of the Day. “It was a poor performance first half - not only because of the way we played but also because of the energy we brought.
"In the end I had to make some hard decisions at half-time to create some anger. The three that came in did really well but I could see from the other eight they were different.
"That is what had to change and that's why we made three substitutions just to, apart from bringing in quality, also create something. Because nine out of 10 times when you take three out, the other eight are like, 'Ooh, something else should happen.' That's the only thing I could come up with at half-time to create something different for the second half.
"I am fully aware you cannot play high intensity for 38 games. Sometimes you have to find another way to win. Hopefully the first half was a warning sign. The good thing is we probably didn't run that much [before facing PSG on Tuesday]."
The win extended his side’s lead over Arsenal in the table to 16 points, albeit the Gunners have two matches in hand.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
29 | +42 | 70 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
27 | +28 | 54 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
28 | +12 | 51 |
| 4 |
Man City
MCI
|
28 | +15 | 47 |
But Slot remained cautious about his side’s title hopes, noting that Arsenal travel to Manchester United on Sunday, host Chelsea next weekend, then play Fulham at home on 1 April before Liverpool play next, at home to Everton a day later.
"It's 16 for now but that can be down to seven by the time we play Everton in a few weeks,” Slot told Sky Sports.
