Liverpool manager Arne Slot refused to be involved in January transfer speculation after watching his side draw 1-1 against high-flying Nottingham Forest.
The Reds fell behind at The City Ground after Chris Wood scored his 13th Premier League goal of the season and were still behind after 65 minutes when Slott decided to make a double change, replacing centre-back Ibrahim Konate with striker Diogo Jota, as well as bringing in Kostas Tsimikas in place of Andy Robertson in a direct swap at left-back.
The move paid off immediately as Jota headed home Tsimikas’ corner and the Premier League leaders should they probably won the game as Forestwho had leapfrogged Arsenal into second place, began to tire.
Speaking after the game, Slott was asked if the performance highlighted any areas he would like to strengthen in January, but the Dutchman deflected the question and instead focused on the players he already has at his disposal.
“I think you saw again today that I can still strengthen the team or influence the game with the substitutes I have on the bench. It’s not the first time this season that these players I could have brought in have helped us,” he said. .
“If you look at today, like I said, I couldn’t have asked for more. I told them at half-time not to get frustrated, you’re not going to get a lot of chances, it’s probably going to be a slow game, but just focus on what you have to do and hopefully get two or three chances and try to score from that. I was completely wrong because they created chance after chance.”
Jota’s goal was the fifth Premier League the strike of a season disrupted by injuries so far. The Portuguese also struggled with problems during the 2022/23 campaigns. and 2023/24, but he still has a big impact on Liverpool.
Indeed, his half-hour performance against Forest saw him hit three times on goal, take seven touches in the opposition penalty area and cause general chaos Liverpool pushed to the winning goal.
“He had a big impact before when he came on against Fulham, but then after that game he had a bit of a setback and then in the games he came on after as well I felt he needed a bit more time to get into his rhythm,” Slott said. for a 28-year-old.
“It’s not only with him, I see that with other players who have been out for a few weeks or a few months, it’s difficult to immediately start this intensity in Premier League games. And it was very pleasing to see that today, maybe even better than against Fulham when he came in. He had a big influence, he was the one, apart from Mo [Salah]who had several opportunities for our second goal.
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