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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has been named on the shortlist for FIFA's The Best awards in the managerial section, alongside names such as Barcelona boss Hansi Flick and Arsenal's Mikel Arteta.
The awards recognize the last 12 months in soccer, with Liverpool having won the Premier League title in that period. Slot also reached the knockout phase of the Champions League with the Reds before being eliminated by the eventual winner, PSG.
Mohamed Salah, meanwhile, is on the shortlist for the best men's player category. He is up against players including Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona) and Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid).
Teammate Alisson Becker is on the goalkeeper shortlist, alongside the likes of Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) and David Raya (Arsenal).
This season, Slot and Salah have come in for some criticism, while Alisson has been sidelined with an injury. Things have made a turn for the positive this week, though, with wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid.
Earlier today, Slot confirmed in his press conference ahead of playing Manchester City this weekend that Alisson should be back in time to face Nottingham Forest in the first game after the upcoming international break.
"[The Manchester City match is] a very interesting game to look forward to because when I wasn’t working here and when I was in Holland, I did know when City v Liverpool was or when Liverpool v City was," Slot said.
"I could tell you I was 100 per cent sure in front of my television when this game was there. Similar to the Clasico, by the way, but these are the few games everyone is looking forward to and if you are not part of it, you are looking forward to it as well.
"I think it’s always worth watching because so many great individuals are playing that game and these teams, nine out of 10 times, give you what you expect.
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"For me with Pep [Guardiola] that’s 10 out of 10... what I liked about Pep Guardiola’s teams is that 10 out of 10 times you get what you are hoping for: a great game of football.
"No time-wasting and all kind of things that I start to dislike more and more and more about football. These are not the things you can see if you are watching a Man City game."
Liverpool.com says: No one with a proper knowledge of the situation ever thought that Slot would be under pressure at Anfield in terms of his job in the early weeks of the season.
What he achieved last year, and the amount of changes that were undertaken in the summer, meant that it was going to take time to gel. This weekend, there is another big chance to continue taking a big step in the right direction.
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