If Arne Slot has yet to commit to an opinion on the new-look nature of the Champions League this season then it is simply because he and his Liverpool team haven't really had to form one.

The Reds head coach has been asked in each of his seven pre-match conferences what he makes of the 32-team format of the European Cup and while some have championed the refresh and others prefer the more traditional eight groups of four, Slot has largely offered up a non-committal shrug each time. A definitive take either has not yet been reached it seems.

Liverpool's seventh successive victory in the big-league format, which came via a 2-1 win over French side Lille here at Anfield, means they haven’t really had to work out the complexities, the mathematics and the permutations of it all. Leave that to others.

READ MORE: Arne Slot confirms injury as Liverpool plans change

READ MORE: Liverpool player ratings as Harvey Elliott and two others stand out in win over Lille

Liverpool’s situation is rather more straightforward and stress free heading into match-day eight next week: avoid defeat and they will be the first winners of Europe’s new flagship tournament.

How much of that has a tangible benefit for the knockout stages remains to be seen but it will be a feather in the cap of everyone at Anfield if they can say it was their name in top spot at the end of it all in the 24/25 term.

That has been the general stance for the Reds has been clear: Win games now, ask questions later. And they now head to PSV next week aiming to secure an eighth straight victory and a small slice of history in the process. Not many teams are likely to progress with a 100% record but Slot's side now have the opportunity to do just that at the first time of asking in Eindhoven.

The financial rewards for victories in this tournament, which work out at around £2m a game, should never be sniffed at but the chance to go through as the dominant side should also represent quite the incentive on the field now too.

Slot was hesitant to anoint his Premier League and Champions League leaders as Europe's best when it was put to him on Monday in his press conference - saying "being on top maybe doesn’t tell you you’re the best team" - but the head coach may well have been displaying false modesty, particularly if Liverpool secure eight wins from eight next week in his homeland.

After Brentford boss Thomas Frank admitted on Saturday that Liverpool were a level above anything he’s faced this term, Lille coach Bruno Genesio aired similar sentiments on Monday, saying: "We are certainly facing the best team in the world at the moment." That was a view Xabi Alonso also offered up shortly before his own Bayer Leverkusen side were dispatched here 4-0 in early November.

That's three hugely respected coaches, all from different leagues, who have all been quick to label Slot's Liverpool as the continent's finest and the man himself won't be able to push back against that particular take too strongly for much longer given his side are on the cusp of a flawless campaign virtually without breaking sweat.

And with the Premier League title quest still the overriding objective for many, the trip to PSV means Slot has the chance to rest and rotate ahead of more big games domestically. Things seems to be falling into place just now.

Seven games, maximum points and just two goals conceded have marked out the Reds as a force to be reckoned with and no-one will want them in the last 16. Lille’s goal here, in fact, was the first the Reds have shipped in the Champions League since the third minute of their opening game at AC Milan back in mid-September. And the fact that the French outfit were still swept side having arrived on the back of a 21-game unbeaten streak reveals plenty about the strength of Slot’s squad just now.

Liverpool’s breakthrough emerged when Kostas Tsimikas tracked the powerful Jonathan David before a perfectly-timed tackle allowed Curtis Jones to receive possession in space and with Mohamed Salah ahead of him. The Egyptian, despite an indifferent start, finished with aplomb for his 22nd of the season and just his third in the first half of matches this term.

Salah, as tends to be the case where he is concerned, was celebrating another milestone as he became the first Liverpool player to score 50 goals in Europe. "Hopefully [it's] not the last one but it's something I'm very happy and proud about," he said.

Lille were reduced to 10 men when Aissa Mandi brought down Luis Diaz when already on a yellow but the visitors caught their hosts cold with a rare venture forward and it was Canada international David who converted after an initial shot was blocked by Tsimikas.

It was an undeserved leveller for Genesio's men and it was left to Harvey Elliott off the bench to strike home the winner via a deflection to put the exclamation mark on what was another cameo full of invention and endeavour.

It's been a tough season so far for Elliott, who has been out on the fringes of the squad after a foot fracture was detected on England Under-21 duty in September, but after he had a hand in both goals in the victory at Brentford, he once more turned in a meaningful contribution and deserves to come in from the cold now. He is earning Slot's trust.

Curious transfer links away from the club were dismissed by the player himself last week and it's been an excellent few days for a midfielder who offers something very different to the others in that No.10 position. He has to start at PSV and the last few days might just have relaunched his own Reds career, if that is not overegging the pudding.

Barcelona’s dramatic winning goal at Benfica saw them emerge as 5-4 victors to deny Liverpool the official status as group-stage winners of the Champions League. But the Reds may only have to wait another week before they can officially declare themselves Europe's best.

Slot might even accept that tag himself should that happen.