Arne Slot makes Liverpool vow after moving eight points clear of Man City

Arne Slot has dismissed fears Liverpool may become carried away by their Premier League lead after they moved eight points clear on a dramatic afternoon at Southampton. Mohamed Salah scored twice in the second half as the Reds came from behind to win 3-2 on the South Coast on Sunday.

Dominik Szoboszlai had given Liverpool a deserved lead on the half-hour only for Adam Armstrong and Mateus Fernandes to score either side of half-time to threaten a shock victory for the rock-bottom Saints.

But the Reds' comeback means they have now won 10 of their first 12 Premier League games of the season with only two teams having twice before managed such a start and not gone on to win the title.

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And head coach Slot said: “We know what we have had to put into it to get the lead that we have at the moment, to get these wins.

“There were maybe one or two games where the wins were by a big margin, but the rest were all by small margins.

“We know how difficult it is to win a game. These players have been long in the Premier League and it wasn’t long ago Arsenal led by eight points and City came back.

“You know if you face Arsenal, City, Chelsea, Tottenham were great yesterday, they are all able to win so many games in a row. It is nice to have this position but we are definitely not getting carried away.”

Of the win, Slot added: “We are really happy, especially having been 2-1 down after an hour. Maybe that wasn’t a reflection of how the first hour went because we dominated the whole game, which isn’t that easy.

“I’ve seen many games of Southampton where they have dominated. If you’re 2-1 down after an hour, you’re over the moon maybe if you win 3-2.”

Southampton’s first goal came when Armstrong scored from the rebound after his penalty was saved by Caoimhin Kelleher. The spot-kick had been given when Tyler Dibling was fouled by Andy Robertson, with VAR backing up referee Sam Barrott’s view the incident had been inside the area despite replays suggesting the initial contact was outside.

“For me, with the offside and deciding if a ball is either inside or outside the area, that is just black or white,” said Slot. “It was a foul, that was clear. So if they saw it was inside then it’s a penalty.

“Sometimes with a knock, it can be ‘yes or no’, or a red card. There was an incident in the first half (when Adam Lallana was booked for fouling Ryan Gravenberch) where you could argue that is a red card ‘yes or no’. Those things you can argue.

“But offside and inside or outside the 18-yard box is something you cannot argue. But it was a small margin – like our whole season.”