Arne Slot warns Liverpool must 'sharpen up' against 'dangerous' Leeds today

Liverpool were held to a dramatic 3-3 draw at Elland Road in early December after conceding an injury-time equaliser, with set-pieces again proving costly. Slot said that match had offered clear tactical lessons.

"Yes I could cope with another day like that, but I don't prefer to cope with another day like that," Slot said. "It is part of football, we have to cope with the highs and lows and we have to accept that.

"What we can take from it is that we struggled much more when they started playing 4-3-3 in the last 20 minutes, and that is when they scored their goals. The first was a VAR intervention, the second was a very good goal, and the third was a set-piece.

"We struggled when they played four at the back rather than five, so I will definitely look at that."

Despite those issues, Liverpool have responded with a six-game unbeaten run in domestic competition to climb back into the Champions League qualification places. Slot said improvements were also becoming clearer in personnel.

Jeremie Frimpong started his first Premier League game since the opening weekend win over Bournemouth in last weekend's victory over Wolves and has provided assists in consecutive matches.

"We had to make one change in that position because Trent left," Slot said. "That was not ideal for me because Trent was so important for this club and very important for me last season.

"When we looked at the options in the market, Jeremie was one of the first we noticed because he has that pace, similar to Conor, Milos and Robbo. That pace is important going forward, but also if you face very, very, very fast wingers in the Premier League.

"It is definitely helpful to have them, but unfortunately they have not always had the same players playing in front of them. It is still a work in progress."

Slot also praised Curtis Jones, who was poised to start a fifth consecutive Premier League match after completing 90 minutes in each of the last four.

"One of the main qualities he has is that he always wants to have the ball, no matter the situation," Slot said. "Ninety-nine times out of 100 that is very positive, although sometimes it is smarter not to bring yourself into a difficult situation.

"But even then, he is able to get himself out of it and play the ball. The most positive thing for him is that he has stayed fit for four or five games in a row now and has played 90 minutes every single time.

"That is why I am so pleased with our current results. If we had dropped points, people would talk about how many players we are missing. Because we have not dropped points, nobody is talking about that."

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