Steven Gerrard warned Arne Slot that his Liverpool side can’t now rest on their laurels having snapped their four-match Premier League losing streak against Aston Villa.
Goals either side of half-time from Mohamed Salah and Ryan Gravenberch gave Liverpool a much-needed 2-0 win at home against Villa.
While still not at their fluent best, the result will come as a huge relief to Slot, who had not seen his side taste victory in the Premier League since a Merseyside derby win in mid-September.
Six defeats in all competitions during that period of time saw Liverpool tumble down the table, exit the Carabao Cup, and speculation swirl over the Dutchman’s future at Anfield.
A win to kickstart November will quieten some of that noise, but Liverpool still have plenty of tests to come, most notably against Real Madrid and Manchester City in the next eight days.
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And Gerrard insisted that Slot and his side must not think they are out of the woods just yet, and should expect pressure to be back on their shoulders should they not go and get a positive result against Real in the Champions League on Tuesday.
‘I think he’s handled the last couple of weeks really well,’ the former Liverpool captain told TNT Sports
‘He’s been calm, he has been under immense pressure, so have his players, but that’s the demands here at Liverpool Football Club, especially off the back of becoming champions.
‘You don’t rest on that. It’s about parking that up and going for the next prizes. He’s handled it well, it’s a great win so he deserves a lot of credit for that but they come thick and fast.
‘In two days time, the pressure will build again because he’ll be expected to beat Real Madrid.’
For now, though, Gerrard urged Liverpool to take the positives from Saturday’s result and, in particular, the encouraging performances from two of their key players.
‘Most importantly, the two most important players in Liverpool’s squad – Van Dijk and Salah – are both back smiling,’ Gerrard added.
‘Van Dijk is smiling because of the clean sheet and how the team defended tonight. And the star man Salah scored the goal and he’s smiling.
‘Them two are key for this team moving forward. We put it on them before the game that they had to be the ones to step forward and they’ve both stepped forward.’
Speaking after the game, Slot praised his side’s dogged display to eek out a positive result against Unai Emery’s side.
‘I think everybody felt the importance of the game; the players and the fans,’ he told TNT Sports.
‘The players showed up. Although in the last few games we conceded in the first five minutes, they had a chance. which hit the post. I think the fans and the players felt it was their moment to show they are still here.”
‘The margins are small in the Premier League. You see that in every game. Now we are on the good side of things. It was a close call. Our other games were as well, and that’s what you have to do.’
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