Liverpool manager Arne Slot has insisted the Reds aren’t getting “carried away” with their “healthy advantage” in the Premier League title race.
Slot’s team have increased their lead to eight points after Manchester City were beaten again over the weekend, although they themselves had to come from 2-1 down against struggling Southampton and didn’t seal victory until Mohamed Salah scored an 83rd-minute penalty.
“It’s a healthy advantage but we also know what we had to put into it to get this lead and to get these wins,” Slot explained. “And I only have to show the players there were maybe one or two games for us that were wins by a big margin, but the rest of them were all by small margins.”
Slot referred to Arsenal’s collapse towards the end of the 2022/23 title race, opening the door for Manchester City to reel them in, as an example of what could still happen.
“I think it was last year, even later on in the season, that Arsenal led by eight points and City came back [to win the title],” he pointed out.
“You know if you face Arsenal, City, Chelsea and all these other teams – Tottenham were great [on Saturday] as well – they are all able to win so many games in a row. So it’s nice to have this position, but we are definitely not getting carried away.”
Slot has put his own stamp on Liverpool since replacing Jurgen Klopp at the end of last season, winning ten of his opening 12 Premier League games. The Reds are up against Real Madrid at Anfield in the Champions League in midweek, before then hosting City next weekend.
That game against Pep Guardiola’s struggling side has the potential to virtually blow the champions out of the title race, if a Liverpool win increases the gap between them to 11 points.