Slot makes it clear who Liverpool are trying to emulate

Liverpool’s 5-2 dismantling of West Ham at Anfield was striking for many reasons, but none resonated louder inside the dressing room than the identity of the scorers. Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister all struck from corners, a single-match haul that doubled the club’s previous season tally from dead-ball situations and, in the process, offered a pointed reminder of the benchmark Arne Slot is chasing.

“We created quite a lot of chances from set-pieces in the first part of the season and almost every set-piece we conceded went in,” Slot said. “Today you could see exactly the opposite happening.”

The reversal was not merely statistical. West Ham’s first genuine opening arrived via a corner that, earlier in the campaign, would have found the net. Instead, Liverpool cleared, broke and, minutes later, punished the visitors from an identical scenario at the other end. The swing in fortune, Slot argued, was less about tactical revolution than natural correction.

“Things went back to normal,” he insisted. “We were a lot of times very close. Maybe one or two small details have changed defensively and offensively – we are set up slightly, slightly different – but the biggest reason is that things go back to normal.”

Normal, in Slot’s definition, looks a lot like Arsenal. Mikel Arteta’s side have plundered 17 league goals from set pieces this term, five more than Liverpool’s revised total of 12. At one stage the gap stretched to 23 when penalties were included; it now stands at three. The shrinking margin is no accident. Liverpool have recorded three consecutive Premier League victories for the first time since December, a run fuelled by their renewed threat when play is restarted.

Slot, however, expects Arsenal to respond immediately. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they scored three from set-pieces this weekend as well,” he said, referencing the forthcoming Arsenal-Chelsea fixture. The remark carried the weight of both respect and ambition: respect for the current gold standard, ambition to overtake it.

For Liverpool, the challenge is to sustain the surge. Title races are often decided in the margins – a glancing header here, a cleared corner there. Against West Ham, those margins finally tilted in red. Whether they continue to do so will determine if Slot’s emulation project ends in imitation or usurpation.