LONDON — Much of the focus in the early weeks of the English Premier League season has been on the opening salvos in another title battle between Manchester City and Arsenal.
So much so that Arne Slot’s Liverpool has moved to the top of the standings almost under the radar.
With five wins from six matches, 12 goals scored and only two conceded Liverpool lead champions City and Arsenal by one point and has the chance to bolster their advantage when they travel to struggling Crystal Palace in Saturday’s early game.
Victory would give them a four-point lead, albeit probably only until Arsenal faces 19th-placed Southampton later and Manchester City hosts Fulham.
Liverpool’s opening fixtures have admittedly been kind with wins against Ipswich Town, Brentford, Manchester United, Bournemouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers and they did suffer a surprise home reverse against Nottingham Forest.
Far tougher tests are to come after the international break in the shape of Chelsea, Arsenal, Brighton and Hove Albion and Aston Villa before a home clash with City at the start of December.
But there is a mood of confidence sweeping Anfield, although Slot is keeping his feet firmly on the ground, Reuters reported.
“Everybody is realistic enough to know that six games into the season doesn’t give you a realistic view of the league table,” the Dutch coach, the first Liverpool manager to win eight of his first nine games in charge, said.
“It’s more at 19 games when you feel where you are. But of course, good results help, especially after bringing in a new manager and a new staff. If we had lost four or five of the first six then life would have been different to how it is now.”
The transition from the Juergen Klopp to the Slot era has looked seamless, although with such an experienced and high-quality squad at his disposal, it was perhaps to be expected.
“I am hoping to do more special things than winning eight out of nine games!” Slot said after Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Bologna in the Champions League on Wednesday.
“But it says a lot about many things, it also says a lot about how Juergen left this club, the squad I inherited, how much work-rate the players put in and how much my staff members are helping me to get these results.”
After Liverpool face winless Palace, a buoyant Arsenal host Southampton, another of the five clubs still without a league victory this season. Mikel Arteta’s side comfortably disposed of Paris St Germain in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday and forward Bukayo Saka summed up the mood.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on us, but I do think that this is the year,” Saka said.
Manchester United’s 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur last Sunday once again turned the spotlight on manager Erik ten Hag with the club languishing in 13th spot.
Things do not get any easier for the Dutchman either with Sunday’s trip to fifth-placed Aston Villa whose confidence will be sky high after Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Bayern Munich.
Fourth-placed Chelsea will hope to continue their resurgence under new manager Enzo Maresca as they host Forest on Sunday when Tottenham go to Brighton.
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah insists the players are not putting any pressure on themselves despite a record-breaking start under new head coach Arne Slot.
The Egypt international provided an assist and then scored the decisive late second goal in the 2-0 Champions League victory over Bologna which made it eight wins from nine matches.
That is not something which is concerning the squad, though, with Salah telling UEFA.com: “It’s too early so we don’t have to put pressure on ourselves; we just have to take it game by game and see what will happen.”
Captain Virgil van Dijk has warned the players have to do better to make life easier for themselves at times.
After taking an 11th-minute lead with Alexis Mac Allister’s first Champions League goal, Slot’s side then struggled to build on that advantage and were grateful to goalkeeper Alisson Becker and twice the frame of the goal to keep them ahead at half-time.
There was a similar scenario at Wolves last weekend where, having gone ahead, they allowed their opponents back into the game and even after going 2-1 in front they did not manage the last 15 minutes particularly well.
“I think the first half was not the best – we gave some chances away because we were sloppy in possession,” said the Netherlands international.
“I think we could have done a lot better in the final third; a couple of times we came to the edge of the box and made the wrong decision in terms of the final pass.
“We had a good meeting after the (Wolves) game in terms of how to manage the game much better, how not to let the opponent come back into the game and it’s still a work in progress obviously.
“We are still learning game management and trying to deal with difficult situations which occur in games.
“Hopefully we learn from it and do it much better; otherwise it could be a very tough season. It will be a tough season but can be much better in that sense.”
Van Dijk said even though, the defeat to Nottingham Forest excepted, the start to the campaign had been better than expected Slot was still working on getting his ideas across.
“You don’t want to be sloppy because when you are sloppy you can give chances away and that is something we have to learn.
“We still have things to improve. We are winning games and it is a good feeling that we can still improve, so we have to keep going.”
Slot became the first Liverpool manager to win eight of his opening nine matches as Mohamed Salah’s brilliant strike sealed a 2-0 victory against Bologna in the Champions League, AFP reported.
Slot knows he has to keep his work / life balance in check as he navigates the start of life at Anfield.
Slot has leaned on star man Mohamed Salah early and often to begin his Liverpool tenure, to great success. In what will likely be his final season at Anfield, Salah has been electric, scoring four goals and assisting four more in the first six Premier League matches.
He had a wonderful Champions League performance on Wednesday as well, bagging one of each against Bologna in a 2-0 win at home over the Italian side.
When asked if he’s “come to love” Salah since being named Liverpool manager, Slot replied humorously, “I always loved him,” before rethinking his answer. “Well…no, I always appreciated him.”
Slot has made a flying start to his reign after replacing Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool’s second successive victory in this season’s Champions League was another landmark moment for the Dutchman.
Alexis Mac Allister put Liverpool ahead in the first half at Anfield and Salah bagged his 49th Champions League goal in the closing stages.
Already sitting top of the Premier League six matches into the season, the understated Slot has deftly ensured Liverpool haven’t missed a beat since the end of Klopp’s successful reign.
Even Klopp, Kenny Dalglish, Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley were unable to muster as many wins at the start of their spells in charge of the Reds.
Liverpool began their European campaign with a 3-1 win against AC Milan and this was another confident display in Slot’s first taste of a Champions League evening at Anfield.
Slot, who managed in the Champions League with Feyenoord, said he wanted to create a “special night” and the history-making win surely lived up to that billing.
Klopp led Liverpool to the Champions League crown in 2019 and also reached the 2018 and 2022 finals, producing countless iconic moments in the process.
Slot’s assured start already has the six-time kings of Europe dreaming of another memorable Champions League campaign.
With one point following a goalless draw with Shakhtar Donetsk in their first Champions League match for 60 years, Bologna’s trip to Anfield was described as a dream come true by their sporting director Marco Di Vaio.
After coming fifth last season — their highest Serie A finish since 1971 — Bologna have won just once in the league this term, hampered by a lack of cutting edge following Joshua Zirkzee’s move to Manchester United.
They competed gamely but couldn’t find the finishing touch to produce a fairytale upset.
