It will take time for the players to adapt to the intensity of the Premier League; Sloot believes their performance will improve.

Another key match in the 19th round of the 2025/26 Premier League season will take place, with Liverpool hosting newly promoted Leeds United at Anfield. Manager Sloot stated that he understands the difficulty players face in adapting to the intensity of the Premier League and believes their performance will improve over time.

Liverpool secured a 2-1 victory over Wolves in their last Premier League match, thanks to goals from Hrafinbech and Wirtz. With three wins and two draws in their last five games, Liverpool currently sit fourth in the table with 32 points, two points ahead of fifth-placed Liverpool.

In addition, German midfielder Wirtz, who joined Liverpool last June, finally scored his first Premier League goal in a match against Wolves, marking his first goal for the "Reds".

Regarding whether Wirtz's improved form was due to gradually adapting to the environment and lifestyle here, Liverpool manager Sloot said, "Only Wirtz himself can answer that question, and I can only answer from an 'old man's' perspective, at least I'm much older than him. Being in a different country for the first few months, especially working abroad for the first time, is definitely very different, and it disrupts one's life a bit. For a manager, that might not be the biggest problem, because I don't need to play on the pitch, but I completely understand that some players also need some time to adapt off the pitch."

"The biggest challenge for players coming from abroad is adapting to this league and its intensity. Take the match against Wolves for example. I think even if we only played one game a week, everyone could see Ekittik cramping up after the 70th or 75th minute. I substituted Wirtz not because he was playing poorly, but because he could barely run anymore. This happened not only to him, but also to other players, which shows how big a step it is for the players we bring in to adapt to this level of intensity."

Slot pointed out, "The way to manage a game is to have the conditions for rotation, such as being able to bring on extra defenders. Last season, there were many times when we were leading 2-1, or only by one goal, I would bring on Wataru Endo. I've said before, I don't know if everyone noticed, but we were missing quite a few players, which is why it's so special that the players who stayed healthy could still deliver such results."

We will focus on studying Leeds United's formation.

When asked if he believed that players who joined the team in the summer would perform better as the season progressed, Slaughter said, "That's for sure, but I don't think it just applies to new signings. If you bring in a lot of players and at the same time a lot of players leave, then under normal circumstances, or at least assuming I've done a decent job, you'll see the team play better football as they spend more time together."

“When they train more and play together more, they usually perform better. I think we saw that last season, the team under Klopp was almost the same. Last season, especially in the first half, I think we played very well, and that was the result of the players working together for a long time.”

Furthermore, Liverpool were held to a 3-3 draw by Leeds United in their away game this season, despite goals from Ekittik and Szoboszlai.

Slaughter said, "I can handle it, but I don't want to go through that day again. However, that's part of football life. We have highs and lows, so we have to accept it. One thing I've been thinking about since that game is that we had more trouble when they switched to a four-man defense and a 4-3-3 formation in the last 20 minutes of the game, which was also the period when they scored."

"The first goal involved VAR, the second was a very good combination, and the third came from a set piece. But when they played with a four-man defense, we obviously struggled more than when they played with a five-man defense. I will definitely study both situations, but I will focus on the period when they switched to a four-man defense."