RB Leipzig 0 Liverpool 1: Darwin Nunez winner makes it 11 wins from 12 for Arne Slot ahead of crunch Arsenal clash
WATCHING from his holiday home in Majorca, maybe even with a half-and-half scarf, Jurgen Klopp will once again have been hugely impressed by the club he has left behind.
Klopp will be Red Bull’s ‘head of global soccer’, whatever that truly means, starting from January 1.
And when Klopp begins his £10million role which looks like a glorified PR-job, it will be absolutely fascinating to see where Liverpool will be under his Arne Slot.
Right now, it is looking pretty damn good.
Darwin’s Nunez’s first half winner made it 11 wins in 12 for the Dutchman with that only blip coming against Nottingham Forest.
While Liverpool were forced to withstand some fierce pressure in the second half, keeper Caoimhin Kelleher delivered a couple of big saves.
While Liverpool’s opening schedule was extremely kind, the level of opposition has gone up a notch in the last few days.
Firstly against in-form Chelsea and here, against a team who are unbeaten in the Bundesliga and share the lead with Bayern Munich.
Yet Slot has seen his team overcome both these difficult matches and now, an even bigger test awaits, against Arsenal on Sunday.
There will clearly be a wobble for Slot at some stage, But while he is new to English football, the team he inherited is certainly not and at times here, they played some excellent football despite living dangerously at the back.
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Nunez’s close-range effort came at a time when Liverpool were lucky not to be trailing by a couple of goals let alone still be level.
A header from Mo Salah looked to be going in before Nunez helped it over the line but it will still have been good for the Uruguayan’s confidence as he had only struck once this season.
He was only playing due to an injury to Diogo Jota and while Liverpool do have a few fitness issues ahead of the weekend, title rivals Arsenal seem to be having even more issues.
At the Emirates, Slot’s team cannot afford to be as open in central midfield as they were here.
Man-of-the-match at Anfield on Sunday was Curtis Jones and while he started on the bench, his replacement, Alexis Mac Allister, initially failed to give Ryan Gravenberch enough support defensively.
Mac Allister was also booked for a theatrical dive while home defender Castello Lukeba was lucky to avoid only a caution when sinking his studs into the foot of former Leipzig favourite Dominik Szoboszlai.
Leipzig, having lost their opening games against Atletico Madrid and Juventus, started with real purpose although they were made to pay for failing to take those early chances which fell to Benjamin Sesko and Amadou Haidara.
Kelleher will remain in goal for a few more weeks as Alisson is injured. But Slot will not want to see any repeats of the moment he rushed out of his area and failed to head the ball into touch.
Although from distance, Sesko had an open goal and should have scored but floated a shot wide.
Leipzig’s Belgian striker Lois Openda thought he had scored a cracker from outside the area but despite wagging his finger at the officials, he was miles offside.
And within 60 seconds, Nunez finished a smart move from the visitors Until then, Liverpool’s only effort had been a shot wide by Salah but on this occasion, the Egyptian star headed Kostas Tsimikas’ cross into the bottom corner with Nunez making sure to nudge the ball over the line.
Leipzig keeper Peter Gulacsi, who spent five years at Liverpool without making an appearance, kept his team in the game by keeping out headers from Nunez and Virgil van Dijk.
Nunez was then furious with the officials as the striker thought he should have been given a penalty and there was definitely contact from Willi Orban.
Cody Gakpo wasted a good chance by firing straight at Gulacsi while Mac Allister curled a shot against the bar.
Yet Kelleher made those crucial saves to deny both Sesko and Xavi Simons and while Openda once again had the ball in the net, he was offside for a second time.
For Slot, it is now three wins out of three in the Champions League – only pipped into top spot by Premier League rivals Aston Villa on goal difference.
Even though former midfielder Xabi Alonso brings Bayer Leverkusen to Anfield next month, while Jude Bellingham’s Real Madrid will also visit, Liverpool looks as though they could finish in the top eight and avoid a play-off.
Already, there will be a few Liverpool fans booking their hotels for Munich on May 31.
And to think many thought they would fall apart when Klopp packed his bags.