Arne Slot believes Liverpool have yet to prove themselves Premier League title contenders despite the impressive start to his reign.
Slot is the first Liverpool manager, or head coach, to record six wins from his opening seven matches since Tom Watson in 1896. A fifth clean sheet at Wolves on Saturday would bring Liverpool a club record of conceding once in their opening six league games. The 46-year-old, however, who expects Alisson to return from a muscle injury at Molineux, claims his start has been helped by a favourable fixture list and it is premature to declare Liverpool contenders.
“I know how good we are but we still have to prove things,” said Slot, whose team have scored 18 goals in all competitions. “The fixtures that are coming after the international break [Chelsea, Arsenal, Brighton and Aston Villa] are tougher fixtures than we have now. But one thing I’ve noticed in the Premier League compared to the league I have come from is that every team has a few players who cost £40m-£50m and have a lot of quality. I know every manager says there are no easy games in the Premier League but it is true.
“It is always difficult to judge the league table after six or seven games. If you look at Wolves they were really unlucky playing Arsenal, Newcastle, Chelsea and Villa. That is a different fixture list than the one we had.”
Slot insists he has no problem with the title race being portrayed as a fight between Manchester City and Arsenal. His priority and focus are closing the gap after Liverpool finished 22 points then nine points behind the champions in the past two seasons.
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“I don’t mind if they underestimate or overestimate us,” he said. “The situation is Manchester City have taken 31 points more than us in the last two seasons and we’re trying to close that gap. They [Jürgen Klopp’s side] came closer last season than the season before and now we are trying even harder to close the gap.”