Arne Slot shares Man City target as Liverpool manager delivers reality check
Liverpool's head coach Arne Slot remains measured in his assessment of the team's capabilities, insisting that a full round of Premier League matches will be the true test of where his players are at. Despite the positive buzz around his start at the club, he's not swayed by title race chatter focusing on Manchester City and Arsenal.
The Reds, with only one loss in five games, are just behind Manchester City in the league standings as they prepare for their upcoming match against Wolves on Saturday. Slot, however, is keeping his feet on the ground, noting that Manchester United is the only top-tier team Liverpool has defeated thus far. He's looking ahead to more challenging matches post-international break, with Chelsea and Arsenal lined up.
"I know how good we are but we still have to prove things when the fixtures are coming we all know after the international break then we go into tougher fixtures than we have now," Slot said, via the Daily Mirror, acknowledging the high caliber of players across the league.
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"But one thing I 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 so there are no easy games in the Premier League. I know every manager says it but it is true."
Liverpool's new coach Slot has highlighted the Premier League's depth of quality as a stark contrast to his experiences in the Eredivisie. He reminisced about his time with Feyenoord, where even when they weren't at their best, lower teams like Excelsior struggled to make an impact.
"If you work in the Eredivisie and you play a lower league team, take my final game with Feyenoord we played a lower team like Excelsior, a newly promoted club, and they didn't have one chance," he explained. "They didn't arrive once close to the goal and Feyenoord were not even playing that well in that game."
He continued, stressing the competitiveness of the English top flight: "So with the Premier League, with every team able to buy players for a lot of money, every team has a lot of quality and you can never feel that the game is yours."
Despite the buzz around Manchester City and Arsenal's recent clash, Slot remains unfazed by Liverpool not being the talk of the town, focusing instead on bridging the gap with City: "I don't mind if they underestimate or overestimate us," he said.
"The situation is Manchester City, I think, have taken 30 or more points from us in the last two seasons. So that is the situation as it is and we're trying to close that gap."
Liverpool is poised for a significant boost as goalkeeper Alisson Becker is on course for a return against Wolves, after the Reds' No 1 missed recent victories due to a hamstring injury.
Alisson had to sit out both the Bournemouth win and the midweek Carabao Cup triumph over West Ham though it's likely he would have been rested for the latter match regardless. Caoimhin Kelleher admirably filled in, maintaining a spotless goal on his last outing.
Manager Slot expressed optimism about the situation: "We think he is [ready to return]. He trained yesterday as part of our session with the group so we are expecting him to do the whole session today so we think he is available but of course we have to train today.
"Of course we are really happy with Alisson being back but I want to emphasise that Caoimh did really well in the two games he played for us. Another example of me having two, or I think even three, good options in in goal."