‘I’m happy Gakpo is in my team now’- Slot says forward could be the difference against Leicester | OneFootball

Arne Slot says he is pleased to have forward Cody Gakpo on his side, as opposed to his previous meetings against Ruud van Nistelrooy’s teams.

Leicester City boss Van Nistelrooy was the PSV manager during the 2022/23 season, when Slot was at Feyenoord. That season Slot’s side beat van Nistelrooy’s to the title by a margin of seven points.

Gakpo was then playing under Van Nistelrooy and Slot says he is pleased that is no longer the case.

He said: “I lost once and drew once (against van Nistelrooy). Cody Gakpo was in his team, so I’m happy he’s in my team now because I think in both games he scored.”

Slot also spoke about his opposition number’s record since joining Leicester: “Teams positioned in the lower side of the table usually lose games but Ruud has won a few so that shows that he’s done really well.

“These teams, all of them, it’s special for them to come to Anfield and they know if they come to Anfield they have to be at their best.

“So they will never underestimate us and maybe that’s a good thing. We understand we cannot underestimate one minute in the Premier League because then we’re not as good as we might think we are if we are on top of our game.”