'People are trying' - Arne Slot makes 'pressure' point as Liverpool target emerges

Arne Slot

If the old adage suggests league titles can only be lost rather than won before Christmas

as Anfield witnessed at the weekend witnessed, increased expectancy isn't always the easiest to handle.

A nervy, narrow victory over Wolves signified a new chapter in the battle for the Premier League crown

Even with the Reds holding a healthy advantage of eight points, an onerous schedule over the next week - means nothing is being taken for granted.

for Reds boss Arne Slot, the pressure has been on from within since the very first ball was kicked at Ipswich Town on the opening weekend way back in mid-August.

Slot

“The outside world didn’t expect a lot from us at the start of the season but we expected a lot from ourselves,"

“The players ended up third last season, not 12th, so they knew they could compete with the likes of Arsenal and Man City.”

"The good thing is that we are in an even better place than we were last season but it’s not a massive difference - this club has always competed with one exception two years ago.

"We knew we had challenges to face but we’ve always put the pressure on ourselves that we wanted to compete in every single cup and league we are playing in.

“That’s what we’ve tried to do from the start and now people are maybe trying to put pressure on us, I don’t know, but we’ve put this pressure on ourselves since the first day we were in."

Not that Slot anticipated Liverpool being in such a commanding position at present.

Slot Said

“You never think like that as a manager,"

"You only think about winning as many games as we can and implementing a certain playing style to get as many wins as you can.

“I think until now that has been more than okay and now we have to make sure we can keep doing this.”

"The fixture list also decides how things will work out. So these two games we are going to play now have already been played by Arsenal – Villa away and City away.

“Then we can make a difference in the upcoming two games.”

"If not, then we are on equal terms because we have played a lot of similar games and there are still 11 games to go.

“The positive thing is that, after these two games, we’ve got seven home games and four away. And we all know how much Anfield can help us."

After 23 wins in Slot's first 27 games in charge in all competitions, Liverpool have found it tougher since the turn of the year with seven wins from 13 and three defeats

They were second-best for large periods in the 2-2 draw at Everton last midweek and didn't manage a single shot after the break against Wolves

Slot, though, is not surprised by the drop in performances.

Slot saying

"Was it two weeks ago that we completely outplayed Spurs (in the League Cup)?"

"But I always take the team we face into account. I said - and it sounded maybe ridiculous - but playing Plymouth away was more difficult for us than some other games because of the playing style.

"The playing styles of Plymouth and Everton and to a certain extent Wolves are quite similar.

“I agree the last two performances were not the same level we had at West Ham away or Tottenham at home but are we the Tottenham at home 4-0 win or are we the Everton team? I think we are somewhere in between."