Liverpool manager Arne Slott has warned that his runaway league leaders cannot afford to rest on their laurels in a division as competitive as the Premier League, citing Manchester City as an example of the dangers that await any team.
After an early scare, the Reds are down to a Victory over Leicester City 3-1 at Anfield on Boxing Day. That victory – i more points lost for Chelsea – helped Liverpool to a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
Liverpool they’ve lost just once during Slott’s mighty start to life on Merseyside, but the experienced Dutchman isn’t planning a parade of trophies just yet.
“If you’ve been in this game a long time, like these players and I have, you know you don’t watch it 20 games before the end,” Slott told reporters. after winning on Thursday. “There are still so many challenges ahead of you. A few months ago we were one point behind Manchester City and look what happened there. Injuries, suspensions, bad luck – it can happen to anyone.”
While Liverpool are leading the division, City are back deep in seventh place. Dark 1-1 draw against Everton on Boxing Day it extended the defending champions’ winless streak and left Pep Guardiola searching extensive and expensive reinforcements in January.
“It’s too early to celebrate,” Slott continued. “You saw all those games and I don’t think there was an easy win. That tells you how hard it is to win if you have all the players available. We just have to take it one game at a time.”
This was the 21st Premier League season in which Liverpool spent Christmas at the top of the table. However, the Reds have only finished on top 11 of the previous 20 times. Mohamed Salah knows the pain of the post-holiday slump better than most after starring in two Liverpool teams that fell off the pace in 2018 and 2020.
After adding the third and final goal against Leicester, Salah asserted that this year “feels different”. Regardless of whether it turns out to be a coincidence or not, Slot is not getting ahead of himself.
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