Arne Slot just sent Man City message as big Liverpool advantage made clear

With Arsenal having lost and having gone behind, Liverpool . And yet, at half-time, it was hard to see any other outcome than a second home defeat.

Alexis Mac Allister was among those having something of a post-Halloween nightmare and even the likes of Ryan Gravenberch and — usually ultra-consistent — were below-par. When and in some pain, it felt like being one of those days.

Arne Slot, though, had other ideas. Even with and absent, the boss was still able to bring on Luis Diaz in the second half. replaced Mac Allister and was an instant upgrade, while Joe Gomez, on for the injured Konate, was superb.

It remains true that there are still areas of the Liverpool roster that could be further strengthened, but there is something of a myth that the other teams in title contention are more complete. Arsenal, as it showed at Newcastle, can only dream of the attacking depth that the Reds have, even with Slot being without two of his front six.

, meanwhile, was left having to lament a string of injuries to his players. "We could not match the intensity of Bournemouth," the Manchester City boss was forced to admit.

Rodri is the biggest loss that the Etihad side is currently facing up to, but the Ballon d'Or winner is something of a problem in that he is irreplaceable. Without him for months, Manchester City will need to find a swift solution or it won't just be Bournemouth players running through its midfield at will.

While Liverpool has injuries of its own — and at least Jota and would make its first-choice XI, if not arguably Harvey Elliott too — Slot was still able to use his squad to the maximum to turn the game against Brighton around. The options that he had in reserve, and the finish from Salah, were what secured Liverpool the points.

It is, clearly, a big advantage that Liverpool has at the moment. Arsenal, without a real injury crisis, has pointed relentlessly to that being an excuse for poor results. Manchester City, without Rodri and others, has dropped more points too.

There could well come a point when Liverpool has to face more adversity even that staring another home defeat down the barrel. Slot showed with his substitutes, though, that his roster is deep enough to go the distance. More than a quarter of the way through the league campaign, his side has the lead — now without the caveat of a small sample size or having not played anyone good yet.

If anyone thought that leaving would mean an inevitable Liverpool decline, that school of thought has already been given short shrift. Now 15 games into the Arne Slot era, the Reds have won 13 times. Come the end of the campaign, it could easily be Liverpool challenging Manchester City most keenly once again — and for now, it is leading the way.