Slot points to what Southampton must repeat from Liverpool game

Saints are bottom of the Premier League and have picked up just four points from 12 games following their 3-2 defeat at the hands of Slot's side on Sunday.

They gave the league leaders a scare when Portuguese midfielder Mateus Fernandes put Saints 2-1 ahead in the 56th minute at St Mary's.

It was the ninth goal Russell Martin's charges have scored this campaign, which remains the fewest of any team in the Premier League.

Slot was complimentary of Martin's team in the build-up to the match, labelling them "a joy to watch", but admitted he had not spoken with this boss himself.

"Not any more than I speak to every other manager, so you shake hands before the game and after the game," said Slot, speaking to the Daily Echo.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot was complimentary towards Saints before and after their meeting (Image: PA)

"What was a bit unlucky for them, I think, is normally they play, in my opinion, even better and they create much more chances and hardly score.

"Today they only created two chances and scored two. They maybe could have done this the opposite way then they would have had more points.

"In other games, they play through the press of what our team is doing so, so, so many times, but then they were not effective enough.

"But this time they were really effective. They arrived two times, with the first one not even being an (open-play) chance and the second one from a set-piece.

"If they can combine these two things, the style of play they have for all the other games and this effectiveness, then I'm sure they will win more points."

Saints named five changes to their starting lineup from the 2-0 defeat at Wolves before the international break, including a first start for Paul Onuachu.

Slot insists the lineup was not a surprise with Martin's fundamentals remaining the same and maintained his belief they would come out on top.

"What I do as a manager is I want to know their style of play and sometimes it makes a bit of a difference if a number 9 is high and tall, or fast or slow," he said.

"It makes a bit of a difference but I don't think they've changed their playing style. Not in the way they lined up, 5-4-1, and also not in the way they like to play.

"The first goal we scored was from them trying to bring the ball out from the back, which didn't happen successfully a lot for them today but did a lot in other games.

"I showed the players yesterday how many times Southampton can play through a pass but today I think that part of our game was quite good."

The Dutchman added: "I think we dominated the whole game, which is not that easy. Maybe you think, ah, you play the number 20, this is what we expect.

"But I've seen many games of Southampton they were dominating the game. In the end, if you're 2-1 down after an hour you are maybe over the moon.

"For me, it was a matter of time before we scored a goal. In the first hour, we dominated possession without really creating that much."