The Liverpool boss felt it was too risky to keep the defender on, especially in a game where challenges were flying in.
Slot emphasized that with so much at stake, he couldn’t afford to go down to ten men and made the change as a precaution in the 2-1 win.
He stated post-game: “Yes, I took him off because of that. Because I saw him getting his first yellow, that was for me a soft yellow. If he would have got the second one for a shoulder push, that would again be a soft yellow, so then he would have been sent off by two soft yellows. I think the referee felt the same – that's why he didn't.
“But I've watched football so many times in my life and I know that a player and a referee is then under pressure, so every next foul will lead again to maybe a referee that thinks, 'Maybe now I should give him (a yellow).' I think back on three days ago.
“But for Ibou, it's so difficult to play 45 minutes of football against such a strong Wolves team. So, I had to take him off because you can't play football knowing in your head you can't make a foul and playing against such good players Wolves have."