Liverpool boss Arne Slot hailed the work ethic of Mohamed Salah after the Egypt forward scored in the 2-1 win over Arsenal in Philadelphia last night and declared his side are “heading in the right direction”.
Salah opened the scoring in the 13th minute at Lincoln Financial Field with Fabio Carvalho doubling Liverpool’s lead 21 minutes later.
Kai Havertz pulled one back for Mikel Arteta’s men before half-time but Arsenal were unable to find an equaliser as the game became disjointed due to a raft of substitutions.
Salah was one of those to make way with 10 minutes to go but not before impressing Slot.
The Dutchman said: “He has [been a role model] but I don’t think he’s been that just for this season, I think he has been that for several seasons.
“He came back really fit but I have been told that is normal for him. But if I only use Mo as an example I will not be fair to the others because the others are strong and fit as well.
“One of the main things until now is that all the boys are fit and we have no injuries at all. We hope we can continue like this and that their fitness levels go up.
“We felt today how hard and tough it is to play against a team that wants to press us high, so we need to be really fit and we are working on this. We are heading in the right direction.”
Two wins from two so far on tour 😁 pic.twitter.com/dNLUX4otxp
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 1, 2024
Arsenal dominated for long periods but Slot was pleased with his players’ commitment to getting the win.
He added: “Even though it’s a friendly you always want to win.
“It’s good that we did that today but I am more pleased with how we did so. In the second half, we had a hard time [coping] with Arsenal, they dominated possession but we defended really well with a lot of bodies behind the ball.
“They didn’t create too many clear-cut chances in the second half.”
