Arne Slot earned his 20th win as Liverpool head coach on Wednesday night with the 2-1 victory over Southampton, in doing so equalling a 136-year-old record.
Slot watched his 24th game in charge from the stands at St Mary’s, serving a one-match suspension for an accumulation of domestic yellow cards.
But while assistants Sipke Hulshoff, John Heitinga and the vocal Aaron Briggs were the presence on the touchline, it was still very much a victory of Slot’s design.
It was his 20th win in 24 games as head coach of Liverpool, with still only one defeat on his record since taking over from Jurgen Klopp in the summer.
According to Opta, Slot is only the second manager in history to win 20 of his first 24 games in charge of a club in the English top flight, the other being Preston’s William Sudell in 1888/89.
20 – Arne Slot has won 20 of his 24 games in charge of Liverpool in all competitions (D3 L1), the joint-fastest any manager has reached 20 wins in charge of English top-flight clubs, alongside William Sudell with Preston in 1888-89. Blocks. pic.twitter.com/r21vYBOwsa
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 19, 2024
That is no typo: it is the fastest any coach has reached 20 victories in all competitions with a side in England’s top league in 136 years.
It should, therefore, be no surprise that Slot currently holds by far the best win rate of any Liverpool manager in history (83.3%).
His Liverpool side have been scoring at a higher rate (2.25) than any other manager since John McKenna (3.2 per game) who coached the Reds in 1895/86.
They are also conceding fewer goals per game (0.75) than any Liverpool manager since Joe Fagan (0.74).
Of course that comes due to a small sample size, but nevertheless it underlines the unbelievable task the Dutchman is pulling off in his first half-season at Anfield.
In his 24 games in charge so far, Slot’s side have only conceded 18 goals – and only on one occasion have they shipped more than two goals in a single game, that being the recent 3-3 draw with Newcastle.
The only other side to find the back of Liverpool’s net as often as Newcastle this season is Southampton, who are responsible for 16.7 percent of the goals they have conceded so far.
Liverpool’s goalkeepers – of which three have featured in Alisson, Caoimhin Kelleher and Vitezslav Jaros – have kept clean sheets in 12 fixtures.
The obvious data behind Slot equalling this 136-year-old record is outstanding, but he will only be happy if it continues and the Reds finish the season with silverware.
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