How Arne Slot won the backing of Liverpool supporters with crucial Anfield moment

If Liverpool do go on to win the Premier League this season, there will be plenty of moments for Kopites to reminisce upon when the celebratory DVDs and annuals are rolled out onto the shelves. Victories over Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham and, of course, Darwin Nunez's late double at Brentford will be the 'statement performances' that will be remembered most fondly in the weeks, months and years ahead.

But among all of the champagne performances that Liverpool have treated supporters to throughout a historic campaign at Anfield, a special mention should be reserved for the come-from-behind win against Brighton & Hove Albion in November.

In the wider context of Liverpool's season, the 2-1 triumph over Fabian Hurzeler's side is not a performance that will necessarily stick out in the minds of Reds supporters when the stories of such an exceptional campaign are exchanged.

For Arne Slot, however, it is an afternoon he will perhaps hold closer to his heart than others when he finally gets time to reflect on a whirlwind debut season on Merseyside.

It was little over two months into Slot's reign as a Premier League manager when the, at the time, high-flying Seagulls made the jaunt to Anfield, credited with a real chance of derailing Liverpool's early-season title charge.

At that point, it was eight wins from nine for Slot in the Premier League and supporters were slowly but surely allowing themselves to dream of what the latter months of the season could have in store for the seemingly all-conquering side the former Feyenoord and AZ Alkmaar manager had inherited from Jurgen Klopp.

Such an impressive points return ensured Slot was making a mockery of the struggles Liverpool were expected to endure - similarly to Manchester United and Arsenal in the 2010s - after losing such an authoritative leader.

But that's not to say that the transition from Klopp to Slot was as smooth as the results suggested. In fact, the early weeks of the season proved there were one or two lessons for those inside Anfield to learn ahead of the new era in L4.

Perhaps most crucial of those lessons was the understanding of 'Slot-ball' and the surgical precision Liverpool's new head coach was looking to bring to Anfield. It was quite the culture shock from Klopp's high-octane, 'heavy metal' style of play.

In the season's early home games against Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth, it was apparent that those in attendance were still acclimatising to Slot's more tranquil approach, which, on a few occasions, had failed to provide Anfield with the spark to set the place alight as has so often been the case since Liverpool's first game in the famous venue more than 130 years ago.

That, though, all changed on that autumnal afternoon back in November when Kopites showed Slot exactly why greats like Klopp, Rafa Benitez, Sir Kenny Dalglish, Joe Fagen, Bob Paisley and Bill Shankly all regarded Anfield as Liverpool's most potent weapon.

Brighton, it must be said, played their part in the occasion as Ferdi Kadioglu poked the bear by firing past Caoimhin Kelleher early in the first half to silence the Kop.

But as Liverpool headed into the half-time break staring at the prospect of a second Premier League defeat of the season, Anfield rallied amongst itself and turned the screw in the second half.

And when the famous old stadium erupted at the sight of Cody Gakpo's mis-hit cross finding the back of the net, it was no surprise that the Kop sucked Mohamed Salah's curling effort past Bart Verbruggen less than 180 seconds later.

In those frenzied couple of minutes, Anfield undoubtedly stood up to the task at hand and morphed into its fiery best for the first in the Slot era, proving that supporters had finally come to understand the Dutchman's more sedate style of play.

Of course, that victory was one of the most crucial parts of Liverpool's campaign as it came on the same afternoon that Arsenal and Manchester City suffered defeats at Newcastle United and Bournemouth, respectively.

Now, 13 points clear of second place Arsenal, the Dutchman is on track to become just the fourth manager in Premier League history to win the league title in their debut season, meaning that perhaps that afternoon in November was more significant than the scoreline suggests.