A real tough test it will be on Sunday, when Liverpool meets Arsenal. Slot already knows and is working hard to move seven points clear of its rival.
Arne Slot is ready for a tough test in the Premier League as Liverpool faces Arsenal this Sunday. The Reds sit at the top of the Premier League table with seven wins from eight matches. They have also won all three of their Champions League games.
Slot’s team has had a strong start, and he believes they are “matching his expectations.” This match is crucial, as Liverpool has the chance to move seven points clear of Arsenal.
He told reporters on Friday, “I’m expecting a tough test at the Emirates against Mikel Arteta’s men, who are missing key players.”
“If you look at the last two seasons, Arsenal were far ahead of us. But also above Chelsea (whom Liverpool beat 2-1 last week),” he said. “So you would assume that playing Arsenal would be even more difficult. But let’s see at the end of the season where Chelsea and Arsenal both are.”
“Normally you would expect, especially because it’s also an away game, that this one is even more difficult than Chelsea at home. And we all saw how difficult Chelsea at home was,” he added.
Tough test last season
Last season, Liverpool took just three points from their four games against champions Manchester City and Arsenal, who finished second. “We all know that taking points from your competitors is crucial. Nobody knows in this early stage who will be your biggest competitor. But I think we all know that Arsenal will be one of them,” said Slot.
Slot explained if he was meeting his targets, in his first season at Anfield after replacing Jurgen Klopp. “It wasn’t like I was on my holiday thinking, ‘OK, after 10 games how many points do I want to have?’” he explained.
“The only thing I was thinking of was how am I going to bring the best out of this team that Jurgen has developed for so long. How can we continue that? I focused on individual meetings with the players and team meetings. You don’t think about points.”
He added, “I didn’t have expectations coming in about the amount of points we needed after one, two, three, or ten games. But there were expectations from me about how I wanted to see the team playing. And I think that is matching my expectations at the moment.”
Injured forward Diogo Jota will miss the trip to London, and goalkeeper Alisson Becker remains out of action.
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