Arne Slot exclusive: Liverpool boss says Jurgen Klopp gesture factor behind start in Premier League, Champions League

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Arne Slot has revealed to TNT Sports that he feels former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp helped him get off to a brilliant start at Anfield for the gesture the German made to supporters at his farewell. Ahead of Liverpool's trip to Girona in the UEFA Champions League – live on TNT Sports – Slot also credited his "quality squad", who sit top of both the Premier League and Champions League tables.

Slot says ‘quality players’ and special Klopp farewell behind strong start as Reds boss

Video credit: TNT Sports

Arne Slot feels Jurgen Klopp’s gesture during his Liverpool farewell has helped to fuel the Dutchman's exceptional start to life at Anfield.

Klopp, who reigned for nine years on Merseyside, got supporters used to the idea of Slot’s arrival by memorably chanting the Dutchman’s name during his end-of-season speech on the final day of the 2023/24 Premier League season.

The Slot era currently sees Liverpool four points clear at the top of the Premier League table – with a game in hand – while they are also cruising to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 with a 100% record in Europe.

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Slot’s side can make it six from six in the competition when they visit Girona on Tuesday – live on TNT Sports and discovery+ – and his strong start as boss is down to two things, according to the manager himself.

"That has a lot to do with having the quality players we have," Slot told TNT Sports.

"There’s no manager in the world that can be successful without having quality players, unless you’re facing teams that don’t have quality players; in the Premier League everybody has, you need to have a quality squad."

On the part his predecessor Klopp played in the smooth transition, Slot added: "I think it helped me as well the way Jurgen said farewell. He immediately set me off to a good start with what he did for me in the stadium.

"And then the most important thing is winning games, because no matter how you look, or no matter how nice you are, if you are nice or if you are good-looking – which is a question mark for me!

"But, then it all depends on your results. If you don’t win, it’s very hard to be popular with the fans, so that’s why the triangle [of fans, players and manager] is really good at the moment.

"We’ve experienced this at Anfield against [Manchester] City and [Real] Madrid especially."

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Video credit: TNT Sports

How to watch Girona v Liverpool on TNT Sports

Girona will host Liverpool at Estadi Montilivi in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, December 10.

Kick-off is 17:45 UK time, with live coverage on TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports Ultimate, plus discovery+, commencing at 17:00.

TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), and up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.

You can subscribe to TNT Sports through discovery+, BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media. To find out where your local establishments showing TNT Sports are, use our Pub Finder Tool.

TNT Sports will show over 500 matches from the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League across the 2024-25 season. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination.

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