Arne Slot has responded to Gary Neville’s claim that Liverpool are “massive favourites to win the title” ahead of Arsenal and Premier League champions Manchester City.
Liverpool are 11 points clear of City and nine ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea in the Premier League table after beating Pep Guardiola’s side 2-0 on Sunday.
They have started the season in ridiculous form and have clearly nailed the appointment of Slot, who replaced club legend Jurgen Klopp in the summer.
Following the convincing win over City, Manchester United legend Neville claimed the Reds are “massive favourites to win the title” this season and Slot was asked about this in a press conference on Tuesday.
He responded: “Is that the first one? He had a different opinion on us at the start of the season, which probably most people had about us, except our fans. We don’t look at it at this moment like this.
“We know we have a difficult week coming up again and as we thought, Real Madrid and Man City were difficult to face. I think it’s even harder to go to Newcastle away as well.
“We’re not even halfway through the season yet, but it’s a good position to be in. That’s definitely true.”
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Slot continued: “I think it is important. I think it’s also the culture of this club. For us, it’s not that special thing to be on top of the league or on top of the Champions League format, although that does feel special because we’ve never been before. Normally, we have different groups in the Champions League.
“This club, this team, these players are used to the fact that they are top of the league or they are competing for every trophy so that helps.
“Then, that experience helps us. They also have that experience that they’ve competed for a long time. Then, in the end, they came too short, they couldn’t manage to win it.
“They also know how to win the league against the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and City, because I see those three as our main competitors at the moment.
“They all know that for nine to 10 months, we have to be on top of our game.”
On his team’s form, the Dutchman added: “They all know how hard they had to work for it. If they had done this by just playing at 50 per cent and it is so easy for us, then they might feel, ‘Ah, we’re just too good for this league’ but that’s definitely not what we feel.
“Against every team and no matter if it is Man City or Real Madrid or Wolverhampton Wanderers or Nottingham Forest, we had to work really, really hard to get a result and I think that keeps them with their feet on the ground.”
Slot was also asked about potential January additions, noting that having three defenders injured is “a worry” but that these players will be fit again by the time the winter transfer window opens.
“We are having discussions every day, no matter if there is a window coming up or not,” he said.
“It is a bit of a worry at the moment that three defenders are out but the good thing is, once the window opens, the defenders are back.”
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