Arne Slot says Liverpool should be judged after tough run of fixtures

By Carl Markham, PA

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot knows his side will be judged after a series of hugely-significant matches over the coming weeks.

The Dutchman has enjoyed a record-breaking start to his tenure at Anfield, winning eight of his first nine games, but even he admits the quality of the opposition has not been the most taxing.

All of their seven league opponents are currently in the bottom half of the table but the stakes start to ramp up, with the leaders hosting Chelsea on Sunday ahead of a Champions League trip to RB Leipzig and clash with Arsenal at the Emirates.

There are other league games against Brighton, Aston Villa, Southampton, Manchester City, Newcastle and Everton, with fixtures against Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid in the Champions League and Brighton in the Carabao Cup.

“If you judge your team on only a week, that would not be fair,” Slot said of the next seven days.

“Even though if we do really well it wouldn’t be fair. So I think we have to judge us as a team after this spell of games – not three of them but six, seven or eight of them.

“Then we know better how we act and how we perform if we play tough Champions League games and tough league games.

“That is normal in everybody’s season and we know how difficult it is.”

Liverpool come up against a Chelsea team who have found some form, with five wins and two draws in their last seven games in all competitions.

They pose the biggest threat so far, and Slot added: “Chelsea does really well. If you look at the league table then they are the ones that might be our toughest opponent.

“But it’s not always about the league table. Sometimes it’s about the form of the day, it’s about their game plan.

“We had some difficulty with Wolves as well, who are bottom of the league, but it is a challenge that’s for sure.”

Liverpool’s success has been built on a miserly defence which has conceded just two league goals, although one of those cost them their only defeat against Nottingham Forest.

“If you want to achieve something in this season, you need to be defensively really stable,” said Slot.

Arne Slot's @LFC take on Chelsea this Sunday 🍿

Will they remain top of the table after this run of matches? pic.twitter.com/ObmrSyP2aV

— Premier League (@premierleague) October 17, 2024

“We’ve been that until now. Again, the fixture list we have to take into account as well and now we face even better players.

“Chelsea has a lot of great individuals who we have to try to manage, to control. That’s not what one player does, that’s what we have to do as a team.

“But we must not forget to create our own chances as well, because if you want to win you need to score as well.

“Fortunately and the good thing for us is that we have players that can score goals.”