"We play three finals" Arne Slot will not underestimate Southampton
Arne Slot, Head coach of Liverpool celebrates victory at full-time in the Champions League. (Photo by Franco Arland/Getty Images)

Liverpool have a huge week ahead of them, with a second-leg round of 16 tie in the Champions League against PSG and the Carabao Cup final where they face Newcastle. 

But first, they must overcome Southampton who sit firmly at the bottom of the Premier League table on nine points. 

  • Three finals ahead. 

Despite a huge week ahead, Arne Slot still has his sights firmly on their league clash this weekend where they could end the day 16 points at the top of the table. 

Ahead of the game, the Dutchmen who will be watching from the stands due to his suspension has asked the fans to treat tomorrow's game like a final. 

"I have to convince my players that we play three finals, like I said now a few times, and I'm hoping – and that's why I every time come up with the word 'final' – that I influence our fans a bit as well.

"That they understand how important they are going to be tomorrow. I'm hoping they will not come into the stadium five minutes before the kick-off, I'm hoping the whole stadium is already completely filled half an hour before kick-off and that these players get the reward for what they did in Paris for working so hard.

"So, they have great songs. Sometimes when I look at social media I see these songs coming for Lucho [Luis Diaz] and for Virgil [van Dijk] and for Macca [Alexis Mac Allister].

"They are really creative in these songs and now let's hear them before the game tomorrow, although I'm in the stands. Maybe I can start them with Isaac [Kearney]!"

  • Work hard and you will be rewarded 

In the week, Liverpool were on the back-foot for long parts of the game and only managed 29 percent possession against PSG. 

However, thanks to Alisson Becker's heroics and Harvey Elliott's winner in the 87 minute, Liverpool managed to take control of the tie.

Although Slot believed his side were lucky to leave France with the advantage, he felt it was deserved due to the effort that the players put in. 

"If you want to win something – if it's the Premier League or the League Cup or the Champions League or the FA Cup – you need to have once in a while a game where you don't play your best football and you are 'lucky', which is not luck if you work as hard as we do to get away with a result.

"There are almost no teams that play 38 games, or in the Champions League it's not as much, only good football. I think Real Madrid is one of the best examples of that, they also find a way to win a game if the other team is better than them and that's what they did.

"But I'm not looking at all at the Paris Saint-Germain game anymore. Our full focus, my full focus is now on Southampton, which is the first of three finals to be played in the upcoming week."

  • Team news 

With three important games in the space of a week, Slot has hinted that he may rotate his side but he has assured fans that he will not underestimate the Saints. 

“if I make the choice to play other players, that is because I think that’s the biggest chance to win the game and not because I want to rest them for the game against Paris Saint-Germain.”

"So, the only way I make a change is because it's only two days in between, and then I might feel that playing someone else is a better option, because we have many players that are of equal quality.

Despite appearing off the bench against Manchester City and Newcastle, Cody Gakpo did not train before the PSG game and is likely to be absent from the squad to face Southampton. 

"A close call it will probably be. It's not a long-term injury but he still had a bit of pain yesterday so he was not able to train. Let's see where he is today, so I can't give you the answer yet" said Slot. 

Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez and Tyler Morton  all remain out while Slot and assistant Sipke Hulshoff will not be on the touchline as they complete their two-match ban.