Round two of Merseyside derby will test Slot's savvy

Time and again, Arne Slot described himself as “rational”.

- RICHARD JOLLY

He can often seem the most sensible man in the strange world of Premier League management but his first taste of the Merseyside derby ended with Slot looking his most irrational, with Michael Oliver brandishing the red card after a post-match blast, and the subsequent referee’s report revealing that the Liverpool head coach told the official: “I will fucking blame you if we don't win the league.”

As Slot approaches a rematch – with Everton, not Oliver – the aim is to be the calm, measured winner who has taken his team to the brink of the Premier League title. “I am hoping I will act differently next time but I can’t promise,” he said. That Slot remains aggrieved by the events of injury-time at Goodison Park, with James Tarkowski’s 98th-minute equaliser leading to his loss of control, offers an insight into his psyche.

So too his reaction to the first back-to-back defeats of his reign. He has had 16 days to mull over the Carabao Cup final loss to Newcastle, five more to assess the Champions League exit to Paris Saint-Germain. In the disappointment of Wembley, Slot argued Newcastle’s triumph had “nothing to do with running but only to do with duels”.