Arne Slot has praised his players for coming through a challenging 15-day period in the Premier League title race and emerging with 11 points from five difficult matches.

A quirk of the fixture schedule meant Liverpool faced Everton, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa, Manchester City, and Newcastle United in just two weeks - a run of games that equates to over 13 percent of the season.

But the Reds emerged through that spell without defeat and, with 10 games left in the title run-in, have widened the gap at the top to 13 points. A 2-0 win over Newcastle brought the draining period of the season to a close and the picture looks much more positive than it did just seven days ago.

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A 2-2 draw at Villa Park last Wednesday meant Arsenal had been handed the chance to cut the gap to five points when it played its game in hand. But subsequent slip-ups against West Ham United and Nottingham Forest means few expect the Gunners to mount a title challenge.

“Many things I've liked because after Everton, after Villa and the Wolves game wasn't an easy win as well, people started to doubt some things about our game,” Slot told TNT Sports after the Newcastle game when asked about the recent league run.

“But we reacted so well against City and then all of a sudden everybody was very positive again. Sometimes what you don't see is that players are like ‘Oh, we are all of a sudden really good’ and they don't do the same effort anymore as they did before.

“So for all the mental challenges we had, so people questioning us and then everybody really positive, but the players just kept calm and did the things that they have to do, and that is making it as hard as possible for the other team to play against us. Then eventually, most of the times, our quality then makes a difference.”

It was a different vantage point for Slot on Wednesday as he watched from the stands following the two-match suspension he was handed earlier that day from the Premier League for his dismissal against Everton.

He will have enjoyed the spectacle at Anfield as Liverpool secured a 2-0 win and limited Newcastle to just three shots, none of which were on target. But Slot still saw things his side could have done better.

“There were things to improve as well. I think we were sometimes, maybe it was because it was a fifth game in 15 days that I saw a few times [the players] struggling a little bit with the ball,” the Dutchman explained.

“But their work rate after so many games was incredible. Not only from the ones who started, also the ones that came in. So again, not only a very good team performance, but a very good solid performance.”