Arne Slot has already passed significant hurdles in the early days of his Reds tenure

Throughout the short tenure of Arne Slot at Liverpool he has faced test after test. It has been a new test each and every week.

With Liverpool sitting pretty on top of the Premier League table and the Champions League table, it is fair to say that Slot is topping the class. Any tests that comes his way he is knocking them out of the park.

Here we will look at his top 5 tests and how he handled each of them.

Manchester United (A)

It is not normal to face your rivals so early in the season. Liverpool travelled to Old Trafford in the 3rd game of the season.

During the dominant years of Manchester United it was very difficult to get a result at Old Trafford. Scrappy 1-0 wins have been celebrated with gusto in the past.

With a comprehensive 3-0 victory which came with relative ease, saw Slot pass this test with flying colors. The scoreline was a true reflection of the game as well in that Liverpool completely dominated Manchester United in their own backyard.

Nottingham Forest (H)

Following the Manchester United game we saw the first International break of the season. Players went off to play for the national leagues all over Europe and South America.

The return fixture after the break saw Nottingham Forest visit Anfield. Forest set themselves up with a low block and tried to get at Liverpool with a counter.

The plan worked perfectly for Nottingham Forest as they nicked a goal towards the end. As far as Liverpool were concerned even though they dominated possession they couldn’t create the chances to get a goal.

The selection of Alexis Mac Allister was in question following his late return to the Liverpool squad from Argentina. This was a test that Slot would probably mark as a failure. However it is clear that it has been a learning curve for him and he certainly has learnt from it.

Arsenal (A)

The next test was a big away game to one of the title rivals. The game itself didn’t disappoint for the neutral. The home team started the strongest and took the lead quite early.

However Liverpool did hit back with an equaliser soon after. Arsenal thereafter dominated the second half and retook the lead.

Liverpool again pegged back Arsenal with a period of dominance. This game demonstrated Slot’s mindset in that he was after the win and was not going to settle for a draw. Slot showed that he was able to set up his side to deal with the threat of Arsenal as well. 

Real Madrid (H)

There is no bigger test than when the Champions of Europe come to your home. Add to the context that Real Madrid have had the upper hand over Liverpool during the last few years.

This would certainly be an interesting test for Slot. Slot and his team came through once again with minimum fuss.

The Reds dominated the Spanish champions to register what looked like in the end a comfortable 2-0 win.

Real Madrid did have some opportunities and were a threat but Liverpool were able to manage that. Conner Bradley had the best game of his Liverpool career up against Kylian Mbappe and was imperious. 

Manchester City (H)

Straight after the Spanish champions came the English Champions. This resulted in the same scoreline but an even better performance.

Liverpool completely dominated the opening minutes and got just reward for it. Manchester City showed a bit of promise in the second half but Liverpool were more than capable of managing the game.

If anything the scoreline flattered Manchester City. It should have been a bigger margin with Virgil van Dijk hitting the post and having some really good chances on goal. This has to be Slot’s biggest challenge and he made it look easy.

The Rest

Honourable mentions should go to other games such as AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League and an in-form Chelsae side that were beaten at Anfield. 

The tests will continue to come. We have a couple of weeks of no rest in midweek and the Christmas period too. This will also be a challenge for Slot. There is the last ever Merseyside Derby at Goodison Park this weekend too. 

In conclusion other than Nottingham Forest, Slot has come through some stern examinations and will continue to do so. There will be slip ups along the way too. However Slot has more than demonstrated that he knows how to recover from setbacks.