PSG leave Arne Slot with sleepless nights as Liverpool boss offers spiky Arsenal response

Liverpool take on Paris Saint-German at Anfield on Tuesday night looking to maintain their Champions League advantage to secure a place in the competition’s quarter-finals

Arne Slot admitted PSG’s performance against Liverpool last week left him with some sleepless nights as he stayed up watching the game back.

So there’s been little time for dreaming. That means the Reds boss hasn’t been fantasising what a special week this could turn out to be for his side while he snoozes.

Liverpool take on the Ligue 1 giants in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at Anfield. They have a 1-0 lead ahead of Tuesday’s blockbuster battle which comes just a few days before they face Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.

With a 15-point lead at the top of the Premier League and title No 20 on the way to Anfield, this already is a remarkable debut campaign for the Dutchman in England. Yet this week could take it to a whole new level with a first trophy by mid-March and knocking out one of the best teams on the continent which will only shorten the odds of the Merseysiders winning a seventh European Cup.

“No, in a week like this I do not dream at all,” said Slot. “I just know I have to work really, really, really hard to prepare the team in the best possible way.

“That is what I try to do in every single game. If you have a game like we did last week, you feel like, ‘Can I even go to sleep at all? Or do I have to watch even more?’

“So no, I do not dream at all at the moment about this week. We are just looking forward to tomorrow [tonight], everyone looks forward to a game of football like this. At Anfield, two great teams playing against each other.”

The tie promises to be a mouth-watering. Last week at Parc des Princes, the hosts dominated the game and Liverpool keeper Alisson was forced to make nine saves from 27 shots.

Yet late on in the match, Liverpool broke away and Harvey Elliott scored to put them in control of the tie and leave the Paris side stunned. Slot bristled at the suggestion that his team were poor in the first leg but conceded they will need to be better in the return fixture.

Their display has led to rumours around Paris that Luis Enrique’s side feel they’ve faced stiffer tests in Europe this season, including against Bayern Munich and Arsenal. But Slot said: “I think what you mean is some of them have said Arsenal and Bayern Munich were better than us.

“That is what I have heard. I think what that has to do is PSG improved a lot in the two three months and they played at Arsenal and Bayern. I saw both of them games and they have improved and they have changed.

“At Arsenal away, they were lower, waiting much more and now they just press all over the pitch and take the risk of one-vs-one constantly. They have improved, they have changed and is up to them how they felt. I cannot influence what they felt and don’t even know if it is true or not. I’m hoping they have a different opinion after this game.”

PSG have the red-hot attack of Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia which will need to be stifled by Liverpool’s defence. Yet if Liverpool are to progress, you feel they will need to score again in this tie at least once.

Diogo Jota is back fit but without a goal in the Champions League for four years to this day. They could do with the Portuguese forward finding form.

“Stats are part of the game but they don’t say everything,” said Jota. “I want to score obviously. If I don’t score and we go through and it adds a few more days to the stat then I don’t mind.”

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