Arne Slot understands Trent Alexander-Arnold unhappiness following substitution

NOT HAPPY: Arne Slot explained he has to "take care" of Trent Alexander-Arnold after the Liverpool player looked unhappy at being substituted near the end of their 2-0 win over Brentford at Anfield. Pic: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire.

Liverpool 2 Brentford 0

Arne Slot explained he has to "take care" of Trent Alexander-Arnold after the Liverpool player looked unhappy at being substituted near the end of their 2-0 win over Brentford at Anfield.

Goals from Luis Diaz and Mo Salah earned Slot his second consecutive 2-0 win since taking over from Jurgen Klopp.

Once Salah had put the Merseysiders two-up in the 70th minute, the Dutchman made five substitutions towards the end of the game and Alexander-Arnold did not look impressed when he was replaced by youngster Conor Bradley.

Slot had a word with the England defender and said afterwards: "I understand every player wants to play 90 minutes - the guys on the bench wouldn't have been happy not to be in the team.

"Trent came back from the national team, had a few weeks off, and this was only his third game, we had to take care of him and we have a very good back up as well in Conor."

Slot was happy with the overall performance and praised the individual brilliance of Diaz and Salah - who has looked razor sharp and scored two goals in two games.

Diaz's goal came from Salah winning possession to spark a quick counter-attack.

He added: "It is nice to to have a team and individuals that are so special. Mo won an important duel around the 18-yard box and this is how the margins in football can decide games, and then we could counter, Diogo made a great pass and a great finish from 'Lucho.'

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah scores his side’s second goal. Pic: Peter Byrne/PA Wire.

"We've got some special players and we need to get them in the right positions. We've had two good wins against difficult opponents but still have much to prove."

Meanwhile Ivan Toney, subject to a bid from Saudi Arabia, was left out again but Thomas Frank insisted he did not know if the move is any closer to going through before the transfer deadline.

"Very good question," he added, "I haven’t asked about it in the last two or three days. Ivan has trained well with a good attitude. I am always happy when the window is shut and then we don’t have to talk about ifs and buts and maybe."

"Liverpool won the game fair and square but there are things I can be positive about."

Slot achieved something none of his four predecessors had achieved - win his first home as manager.

Surprisingly, Klopp, Brendan Rodgers, Roy Hodgson and Kenny Dalglish - in his second stint as boss - had all drawn their first home game but then Slot has taken over a team expected to challenge for the title.

After the fanfare, emotion and carnival atmosphere of Klopp's final game in May, Slot made made a low-key entrance. The Dutchman walked out of the tunnel with a brief clap of the hands to the crowd and a thumbs up to someone in the crowd holding up a banner before taking his seat.

But there was a real buzz and energy about his team and they could have had more goals but for some fine goalkeeping by Mark Flekken and superb defending by Nathan Collins.

Slot said Liverpool didn't win enough duels in the first half of their win at Ipswich on the opening day but he could have no complaints yesterday.

They won possession on countless occasions and both their goals came from players winning battles for the ball.

Diaz's 13th minute opener was started by Salah winning a duel on the edge of his own penalty area after Ibrahima Konate had headed out a Brentford corner.

The ball broke to Diogo Jota who charged forward before setting up Diaz with a perfect pass to rifle home his 25th goal on his 100th appearance for the club.

It was a super-fast counter-attacking goal right out of the Klopp playbook and Slot celebrated by slapping the hands of his coaching staff.

Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 138 Premier League matches when leading at half-time, winning 125 of them, since their 4-3 loss to Bournemouth in December 2016 so it was really no surprise they went on to collect all three points.

But they had to wait until the 70th minute to effectively seal the points. This time Dominik Szoboslai nicked the ball back off Fabio Carvalho - who has just left Anfield for Brentford - to start a move that ended with Salah expertly converting Diaz's through pass.

Flekken twice denied Andy Robertson a goal and produced several other good stops while Republic of Ireland international Nathan Collins made a couple of well-timed interceptions to stop further goals.

There were positives all over the pitch for Slot. Salah looks as a sharp as his new hair style, Robertson looks back to his energetic best after an injury-disrupted season, Konate and Van Dijk looked commanding in the heart of the defence and Ryan Gravenberch produced another solid display in the defensive midfield anchor role to suggest Liverpool do not need to panic buy in that position following Martin Zubimendi's decision to stay with Real Sociedad.

Liverpool ran out worthy winners in the end and after two games the transition from Slot to Klopp is looking seam-less. But perhaps a truer test will come with next weekend's trip to Old Trafford.

Liverpool (4-3-3): Alisson 7; Alexander-Arnold 7 (Bradley 71, 6) Konate 7, van Dijk 7, Robertson 7; Gravenberch 7 (Endo 90, 5), Mac Allister 7, Szoboszlai 7; Salah 8 (Elliott 83, 5), Jota 7 (Gakpo 71, 6), Diaz 7 (Nunez 71, 6).

Brentford (3-5-2): Flekken 8; Collins 8, Pinnock 6, Ajer 6; Roeslev 6, Janelt 6 (Schade 71, 5), Norgaard 6, Jensen 6 (Damsgaard 66, 5), Lewis-Potter 6 (Carvalho 66, 5); Mbeumo 7, Wissa 6 (Onyeka 71, 5).

Referee: Stuart Attwell 7.