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Mohamed Salah has already provided a glimpse into how Arne Slot might respond to Liverpool's recent dip in form.
The Reds have suffered six losses in their last seven matches across all competitions, following their Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Crystal Palace on Wednesday. A significantly altered Liverpool team bowed out of the tournament at Anfield, succumbing to an Ismaila Sarr double and a late strike from Yeremy Pino.
However, this was merely an extension of the downturn that has seen Slot's players lose their previous four Premier League fixtures. The current champions have now slipped to seventh place in the league table and face a challenging encounter against Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday, with fixtures against Real Madrid and Manchester City looming next week.
There will be considerable interest in Liverpool's performance this weekend as Slot attempts to navigate the first significant hurdle of his tenure.
Last season, the new Liverpool manager only brought Federico Chiesa into his squad as the Reds dominated the Premier League. Liverpool's subsequent high-profile signings have resulted in difficulties in re-establishing the same equilibrium within the team.
Salah had previously detailed how Slot responded to setbacks following a 3-1 home victory over Southampton in March. Liverpool had fallen behind just before half-time, much to the manager's annoyance, before Darwin Nunez's equalizer and two penalties from Salah secured the win. It's likely that Slot will have a similar reaction to his team's recent string of losses.
Salah revealed that the Liverpool manager had expressed his frustration with the players following their struggle to fashion opportunities against Southampton and their failure to keep a clean sheet before half-time. "It was a bit of frustration. His head was going for us," Salah acknowledged.
"We were sloppy and slow in the first half. I don't think we played good today. If you want to win the Champions League or Premier League you have to win these games like that."
During his post-match media briefing, Slot confirmed that he had addressed his players directly in the changing room. "I don't think I was wrong this time if I said at half-time that energy levels were far, far, far too low, and that is what I had to change, and that's why we made three substitutions," he explained.
The Liverpool boss demonstrated his displeasure with a triple change at the break, which prompted an improved display from his squad.
Nevertheless, Slot is struggling to reinvigorate his side during this campaign.
"There are multiple reasons we have lost so many games but with all the reasons still are no excuses to lose so many," Slot commented following the recent cup loss to Palace. "But it hasn't been helpful that all the games we lost there were only two days in between the games we had to play away from home.
"If we play players, like I tried with Alexander Isak, players who missed preseason. We run the risk of another injury, and at the moment, we only have 15-16 senior players available.
"It is always a blow to lose a game of football. Especially if it leads to going out of a competition. But it is the same selection I did last season in rounds like this. There are many reasons we lost five out of six, or six out of seven. None of them are good enough to accept losing so many."
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