Liverpool head coach Arne Slot is looking forward to a reunion with compatriot Ruud van Nistelrooy even if his memories of their tussles in the Netherlands are not particularly happy.
As coach of Feyenoord, Slot Drew and Lost opposed the former Manchester United striker, who led PSV Eindhoven for a little over a year, had the last word when his team has completed with seven problems forward by earning the name of Eredivisie.
“I was expecting you to tell the people over here that I lost once and drew once, but you made it positive saying we won the league title, which was true,” said Slot when his title win was highlighted.
“Cody Gakpo was in his team, so I am happy he is in my team now when we face Ruud because Cody scored (in a 4-3 victory).
“Ruud is first and foremost a very kind person. I saw him once or twice and he did very well when he was at PSV, because PSV have been at the top of the ranking for a year and a half.
“But if you look at the time of the Ruud season, they have even lost at all.
“After he left, they bought a few more players than when he worked there, but he still showed that he can compete for the title.
“He’s also done at United and I look forward to seeing that, especially if we win. “
He played well at United and I can’t wait to see him, especially if we win.
Having lost his name to Feyenoord, Van Nistelrooy resigned with one game left in the season due to the club’s absence.
However, the situation he finds himself in at Leicester is arguably a tougher one.
They are just two points above the relegation zone having taken only one point from the last three matches after victory in Van Nistelrooy’s first match in charge having taken over from Steve Cooper.
“I think the positive is that teams that are positioned in the lower half of the league table, they mostly lose games, but Ruud is there, they also won.
“Now it has had two difficult effects in a row, but for those groups it is special for them to go to Anfield and they know that if they go to Anfield they have to be more productive so that they never underestimate us.
“Maybe that’s the smart thing about the 15 minutes (when they conceded twice in the 6-3 win over Tottenham) because we showed that we perceive that we can’t underestimate a minute in the Premier League because then we’re not as smart as we might think we are if we’re in the most sensible part of our game.
Slot expects Federico Chiesa to be on his team for the latest late kick in Anfield.
The start of the Italian international’s career at Liverpool has been fraught with obstacles, as he arrived late in the non-season window and struggled to get back into shape.
Having played the second half of Southampton’s Carabao Cup win, he missed Sunday’s trip to London due to illness.
“Unfortunately for him, because he had a few minutes against Southampton, but unfortunately he was sick, so we couldn’t bring him back to the game,” added Slot, who continues without his defenders Conor Bradley (Biceps femoral) and Ibrahima Konate (knee). ).
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